Contextual diversity and anchoring: Null effects on learning word forms and opposing effects on learning word meanings.

ABSTRACT: Words that appear in many contexts/topics are recognised faster than those occurring in fewer contexts. However, contextual diversity benefits are less clear in word learning studies. Mak et al. proposed that diversity benefits might be enhanced if new word meanings are anchored before introducing diversity. In our study, adults (N = 288) learned meanings for eight pseudowords, four experienced in six topics (high diversity) and four in one topic (low diversity). All items were first experienced five times in one topic (anchoring phase), and results were compared to Norman et al. which used a similar paradigm without an anchoring phase. An old-new decision post-test (did you learn this word?) showed null effects of contextual diversity on written form recognition accuracy and respon

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11528881 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature