Semantic context effects in visual word recognition: an analysis of semantic strategies

Five experiments (N = 25, 49, 25, 27, & 24 undergraduates) were conducted to examine two distinct patterns of context effects: (1) facilitation for target words in a related context, & (2) interference for target words in an unrelated context. The overall characteristics of the stimulus list were found to be the controlling factor. Facilitation dominance was found for materials with semantic relationships of consistent strength & interference dominance for materials with a wide range of semantic relationship strengths. The two patterns are attributed to two strategies available to Ss for using context information. 5 Tables, 5 Figures, 22 References. Modified HA