ASA 128th Meeting - Austin, Texas - 1994 Nov 28 .. Dec 02

5pSP24. The dimensional structure of the lexicon.

Lee H. Wurm

Douglas A. Vakoch

Dept. of Psychol., State Univ. of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500

Past research indicates that the lexical access of emotion words is influenced by the dimensions of evaluation and activity. Increased reaction time to a lexical decision task using emotion words and nonwords was predicted by low loadings on evaluation and activity as determined by ratings on semantic differential scales [L. H. Wurm and D. A. Vakoch, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 2974 (1994)]. The current study examines the extent to which evaluation, activity, and potency influence lexical access of words more representative of the entire lexicon [C. E. Osgood, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 12, 194--199 (1969)]. Implications for a dimensional model of the structure of the lexicon are discussed.