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Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding / CAROLINE HANDLEY

Swansea University Author: CAROLINE HANDLEY

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.64666

Abstract

Word association tasks have been widely used within applied linguistics and psychology to understand connections between words in the mental lexicon. Many studies have attempted to understand the types of associations people form by coding responses, although results have been inconsistent. The domi...

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Published: Swansea, Wales, UK 2023
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Fitzpatrick, Tess and Rogers, Vivienne
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64666
first_indexed 2023-10-06T10:00:15Z
last_indexed 2024-11-25T14:14:28Z
id cronfa64666
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2023-10-06T11:12:23.2860532 v2 64666 2023-10-06 Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding 6845240aaeae28eca3c0cbfa6b20f93b CAROLINE HANDLEY CAROLINE HANDLEY true false 2023-10-06 Word association tasks have been widely used within applied linguistics and psychology to understand connections between words in the mental lexicon. Many studies have attempted to understand the types of associations people form by coding responses, although results have been inconsistent. The dominant system contrasts paradigmatic and syntagmatic associates, responses that could replace or co-occur with the cue word in a sentence, respectively. In this thesis an alternative classification informed by dual coding theories of word knowledge was tested and then both systems were compared. The new system, based on Santos et al. (2011), posits that word associates are produced via either linguistic (symbolic) processing or conceptual processing grounded in sensorimotor experience of their referents. After a replication of their study, two experiments were conducted using new cue words and eliciting three responses to each cue. Results suggested that word association tasks activate conceptual processing to a greater extent than linguistic processing, contrary to expectations. This supports other research suggesting isolated words and sentences may elicit differential processing. Questions were also raised regarding the nature of conceptual knowledge. Analysis of multiple responses revealed that linguistic associates tended not to be produced after conceptual ones, a trend that was not found when associates were coded as paradigmatic or syntagmatic. In addition, the type of associate produced as the first response influenced that of subsequent ones. Finally, three coding systems were compared on multiple word associations produced by L2 English speakers. The largest difference found between L1 and L2 speakers was the number of linguistic associates produced. Linguistic associates also showed a stronger correlation with a vocabulary knowledge test than paradigmatic ones. Despite coding challenges encountered, the findings suggest that a linguistic-conceptual coding system could constitute a psychologically valid system for coding word association data, providing new insights into the mental lexicon. E-Thesis Swansea, Wales, UK Word association, mental lexicon, embodied cognition, LASS theory 6 10 2023 2023-10-06 10.23889/SUthesis.64666 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Fitzpatrick, Tess and Rogers, Vivienne Doctoral Ph.D 2023-10-06T11:12:23.2860532 2023-10-06T10:46:35.3165661 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics CAROLINE HANDLEY 1 64666__28720__29101a9cfcf14f84b13153ddae8c75d0.pdf 2023_Handley_CJ.final.64666.pdf 2023-10-06T10:52:39.3059039 Output 2324288 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2025-11-23T00:00:00.0000000 Copyright: The Author, Caroline J. Handley, 2023. true eng
title Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
spellingShingle Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
CAROLINE HANDLEY
title_short Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
title_full Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
title_fullStr Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
title_full_unstemmed Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
title_sort Using Word Association to Understand the Mental Lexicon: The Challenge of Coding
author_id_str_mv 6845240aaeae28eca3c0cbfa6b20f93b
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6845240aaeae28eca3c0cbfa6b20f93b_***_CAROLINE HANDLEY
author CAROLINE HANDLEY
author2 CAROLINE HANDLEY
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publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.64666
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
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description Word association tasks have been widely used within applied linguistics and psychology to understand connections between words in the mental lexicon. Many studies have attempted to understand the types of associations people form by coding responses, although results have been inconsistent. The dominant system contrasts paradigmatic and syntagmatic associates, responses that could replace or co-occur with the cue word in a sentence, respectively. In this thesis an alternative classification informed by dual coding theories of word knowledge was tested and then both systems were compared. The new system, based on Santos et al. (2011), posits that word associates are produced via either linguistic (symbolic) processing or conceptual processing grounded in sensorimotor experience of their referents. After a replication of their study, two experiments were conducted using new cue words and eliciting three responses to each cue. Results suggested that word association tasks activate conceptual processing to a greater extent than linguistic processing, contrary to expectations. This supports other research suggesting isolated words and sentences may elicit differential processing. Questions were also raised regarding the nature of conceptual knowledge. Analysis of multiple responses revealed that linguistic associates tended not to be produced after conceptual ones, a trend that was not found when associates were coded as paradigmatic or syntagmatic. In addition, the type of associate produced as the first response influenced that of subsequent ones. Finally, three coding systems were compared on multiple word associations produced by L2 English speakers. The largest difference found between L1 and L2 speakers was the number of linguistic associates produced. Linguistic associates also showed a stronger correlation with a vocabulary knowledge test than paradigmatic ones. Despite coding challenges encountered, the findings suggest that a linguistic-conceptual coding system could constitute a psychologically valid system for coding word association data, providing new insights into the mental lexicon.
published_date 2023-10-06T05:14:34Z
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score 11.089572

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