Meaning, amount of processing, and memory for words

Abstract

Two experiments were carried out in order to try to resolve the controversy about whether the semantic processing of a word necessarily involves all the elements of its meaning. In the first experiment, subjects categorized a list of auditorially presented words according to whether or not they were natural consumable solids (e.g., "apple"). They were then given an unexpected test of their ability to recall the whole list, which contained equal numbers of words with none, one, two, or all three of the target components. The results confirmed the prediction that the greater the number of components a word has in common with a target category, the better it will be recalled. The second experiment used a visual presentation of a list of words, which subjects scanned for members of a particular target category. There were four different target categories assigned to independent groups of subjects. The results again confirmed the prediction. On the assumption that memorability in such tasks is determined by amount of processing, we conclude that some elements of the meaning of a word can be processed without having to process all of them. © 1978 Psychonomic Society, Inc.