| Abstract: | Average and advanced readers from the fourth and sixth grades read visually presented words as rapidly as possible. Target words were preceded by a related prime word, an unrelated word, or a neutral warning stimulus. Related trials constituted 75% of the word prime trials for half of the subjects in each group, and only 25% for the other half. All groups were sensitive to this proportion manipulation, showing only faster naming times for related targets in the 25% condition. In the 75% condition, subjects showed inhibition for unrelated targets, as well as facilitation for related targets. The results indicate that the ability to use context deliberately to facilitate word recognition reaches asymptote for the average reader by the sixth grade at the latest, and perhaps by the fourth. This ability does not appear to be one that shows further improvements at higher levels of reading skill. Some possible reasons for the discrepancies between this research and that using incomplete sentence contexts are considered. |
