Dual semantic encoding of homographs and homophones embedded in context

Abstract

Dual encoding of homographs and homophones was inferred from the intrusion of their alternative meanings across trials in two experiments using a modified Brown-Peterson paradigm. In Experiment 1 subjects heard a word triad and then engaged in a 10.5-sec distractor task. Written recall was then demanded. On context trials a homophone with alternative meanings belonging to two distinct categories was embedded in a triad biasing one meaning, e.g., helpless,/wik/, fragile. On the next trial, words from the category of the other meaning were presented, e.g., year, month, decade. A significant number of intrusions of the alternative coding of the homophone, e.g., WEEK, across the category boundary were observed. Experiment 2 employed visual presentation of embedded homographs, e.g., plunged, jumped, DOVE, and oral recall but was logically similar to Experiment 1. Intrusions of the alternative codings of homographs across category boundaries, e.g., pigeon, sparrow,/d Λ v/, were again noted.