The aim of this study was to test whether the availability of internal imagery elicited by words is related to ratings of word imageability. Participants are presented with target words and, after a delay allowing for processing of the word, answer questions regarding the size or weight of the word referents. Target words differ with respect to imageability. Results show faster responses to questions for high imageability words than for low imageability words. The type of question (size/weight) modulates reaction times suggesting a dominance of the visual domain over the physical-experience domain in concept representation. Results hold across two different languages (Czech/German). These findings provide further insights into the representations underlying word meaning and the role of word imageability in language acquisition and processing.

• Keywords
• Imageability, mental imagery, semantic representation, word processing,
• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Imagination * physiology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Reaction Time * physiology   MeSH
• Semantics MeSH
• Vocabulary MeSH
• Photic Stimulation MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Age of acquisition (AoA) is presumed to reflect the age or relative order in which words are learned, but is often measured using adult ratings or adult-reported observations and might thus reflect more about the adult language than about the acquisition process. Objective AoA estimates are often limited to words whose referents can be shown in pictures. We created a corpus-derived AoA estimate based on first word occurrences in a longitudinal corpus of child English, and evaluated its reliability and validity against other measures of AoA. Then we used these different measures as concurrent predictors of adult lexical decision times. Our results showed adequate reliability and good relations with other AoA measures, especially with parent-reported AoA (r = 0.56). Corpus AoA did not predict unique variance in lexical decision times, while adult AoA ratings and parent-reported AoA did. We argue that this pattern is due to two factors. First, the adult AoA ratings and parent-reported AoA are confounded with adult memory, lexical processing and reading difficulty variables. Second, the adult AoA ratings are related to actual age of acquisition only for words acquired during later preschool and school age. Our analyses support the utility of corpus-derived AoA estimates as an objective measure of acquisition age, especially for early-acquired words.

• MeSH
• Reading MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Language * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Reproducibility of Results MeSH
• Vocabulary MeSH
• Learning MeSH
• Age Factors MeSH
• Language Development * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH