When homonymous meanings are assumed to have separate representations in the human mind does this count for polysemous senses and does the processing advantage differ between homonymous and polysemous words? Since this is a very new perspective in psycholinguistics, not many results have been achieved by now. Thus, this study aims to go further and explain ‘the source of the processing advantage’ which could have been observed in previous lexical decision studies with ambiguous words.
In addition this study will focus on the diverse processing advantages for homonyms and polysemes and attempts to provide a model for the word representation of homonymous and polysemous words. Accordingly, the experiment is constituted as a lexical decision task. The used corpus was adopted from the study of Rodd et al. (2002: 263-264) which built the base for this study. This corpus was used because the present study only included 20 participants which thus only allows a predication to a limited extent. But by choosing this corpus parallels can be drawn between those two experiments and thereby a more general and meaningful statement can be provided.
Table of Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Literature Review
- 2.1 What is Homonymy and Polysemy?
- 2.2 Previous Studies on Lexical Ambiguity
- 3 Methodology
- 3.1 Instruments
- 3.2 Informants
- 3.3 Data Collection Procedure
- 4 Results and Discussion
- 4.1 Results Evaluation
- 4.2 Comparison and Critical Discussion of the Results
- 4.3 A Model for the Nature of the Mental Lexicon
- 5 Conclusion
Objectives and Key Themes
This study aims to investigate the processing advantage observed in previous lexical decision studies involving ambiguous words, specifically examining whether this advantage differs between homonyms and polysemes. It seeks to explain the source of this processing advantage and propose a model for the mental representation of homonymous and polysemous words. The study utilizes a lexical decision task and a corpus adapted from previous research. The limited participant number necessitates focusing on drawing parallels with existing research to allow for broader conclusions.
- The processing advantage of ambiguous words in lexical decision tasks.
- The difference in processing between homonymous and polysemous words.
- Mental representation of homonyms and polysemes.
- A model for word representation in the mental lexicon.
- Comparison of the findings with previous studies on lexical ambiguity.
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: This introductory chapter establishes the core research question: Does the processing advantage observed for ambiguous words differ between homonymy (words with identical forms but unrelated meanings) and polysemy (words with one form and related meanings)? The chapter highlights the novelty of this perspective in psycholinguistics, referencing the lack of conclusive research differentiating between homonymy and polysemy processing. It introduces the study's objective to investigate this gap and to offer a model explaining the observed processing advantage. The chapter concludes by outlining the study's methodology (a lexical decision task) and the chosen corpus, acknowledging the limitations imposed by the smaller number of participants.
2 Literature Review: This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of existing research on lexical ambiguity. It begins by clearly defining homonymy and polysemy, highlighting the often-blurred boundaries between the two concepts. The chapter then reviews several key studies, starting with Rubenstein et al. (1970) and their discovery of the "ambiguity advantage"—faster response times for ambiguous words. It discusses subsequent research that explored the "NOM" (number of meanings) effect and the role of semantic activation in processing ambiguous words. The review critically analyzes studies that found processing advantages for words with multiple meanings, noting that these studies did not distinguish between homonymy and polysemy. The chapter concludes by highlighting the study of Rodd et al. (2002) and Klepousniotou & Baum (2007), which introduced the crucial distinction and challenged the assumption that all ambiguous words have separate mental representations.
Keywords
Lexical ambiguity, homonymy, polysemy, mental lexicon, word representation, lexical decision task, processing advantage, semantic ambiguity, psycholinguistics, ambiguity advantage, number of meanings (NOM), response time (RT).
Frequently Asked Questions: A Study on the Processing of Homonymous and Polysemous Words
What is the main research question of this study?
The study investigates whether the processing advantage observed for ambiguous words in lexical decision tasks differs between homonyms (words with identical forms but unrelated meanings) and polysemes (words with one form and related meanings).
What are the key themes explored in this study?
The key themes include the processing advantage of ambiguous words, the difference in processing between homonyms and polysemes, the mental representation of homonyms and polysemes, a model for word representation in the mental lexicon, and a comparison of findings with previous studies on lexical ambiguity.
What methodology was used in this study?
The study employed a lexical decision task using a corpus adapted from previous research. The limitations of a smaller participant number are acknowledged.
What are homonyms and polysemes, and how are they distinguished in this study?
Homonyms are words with identical forms but unrelated meanings, while polysemes are words with one form and related meanings. The study explicitly distinguishes between these two types of ambiguity, unlike many previous studies.
What are the key findings of the literature review?
The literature review summarizes previous research on lexical ambiguity, including the "ambiguity advantage" (faster response times for ambiguous words), the "NOM" (number of meanings) effect, and the role of semantic activation. It highlights the lack of conclusive research differentiating between homonymy and polysemy processing before this study.
What is the proposed model for word representation in the mental lexicon?
The study aims to propose a model for the mental representation of homonymous and polysemous words based on its findings, though the specifics of this model are not detailed in the provided preview.
What are the limitations of this study?
The study acknowledges the limitation of a smaller number of participants, which necessitates focusing on drawing parallels with existing research to allow for broader conclusions.
What is the overall structure of the study?
The study is structured into five chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion, and Conclusion. The preview includes chapter summaries.
What are the key words associated with this study?
Key words include: Lexical ambiguity, homonymy, polysemy, mental lexicon, word representation, lexical decision task, processing advantage, semantic ambiguity, psycholinguistics, ambiguity advantage, number of meanings (NOM), response time (RT).
What is the overall goal of this study?
The study aims to investigate the processing of ambiguous words, differentiating between homonyms and polysemes, and to propose a model explaining the observed processing advantages.
- Quote paper
- Melina Wiese (Author), 2015, The Representation of Homonymy and Polysemy in the Mental Lexicon, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/316221
