Semantic effects as a function of reading skill in word naming of a transparent orthography

The highly transparent Turkish orthography was employed to examine imageability in relation to level of skill in two experiments. In experiment 1, previously skilled readers (n = 24)named 40 high frequency and 40 low frequency words manipulatedfactorially with imageability. A significant main effect was onlyfound for frequency. In experiment 2, a total of 44 adult Turkishreaders (16 very skilled and 28 skilled) named the same stimulias in experiment 1. The results showed an expected main effectfor skill and frequency. However, whilst the main effect forimageability was nonsignificant, a 2-way interaction of skill byimageability and a 3-way interaction of skill by imageability byfrequency were found to be significant. Very skilled readersnamed high imageable low frequency words significantly fasterthan matched low imageable low frequency words. Insofar as poorreaders are concerned the results are contradictory to previousfindings in English whilst data from highly skilled participantsare in line with those reported for skilled readers for English.Implications of these findings on the existing literature arediscussed.

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