ERIC Number: EJ689158
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 18
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Suppressing Irrelevant Information: Knowledge Activation or Inhibition?
McNamara, Danielle S.; McDaniel, Mark A.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v30 n2 p465-482 Mar 2004
In 3 experiments, the authors examined the role of knowledge activation in the suppression of contextually irrelevant meanings for ambiguous homographs. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants with greater baseball knowledge, regardless of reading skill, more quickly suppressed the irrelevant meaning of ambiguous words in baseball-related, but not general-topic, sentences. Experiment 3 demonstrated that participants with greater general knowledge, regardless of reading skill, more quickly suppressed the irrelevant meaning of the ambiguous words in general-topic sentences. As predicted by D. S. McNamara's (1997) knowledge-based account of suppression, ambiguity effects are influenced by greater activation of knowledge related to the intended meaning of the homograph. These results challenge inhibition (e.g. M. A. Gernsbacher, K. R. Varner. & M. Faust, 1990) as the sole mechanism responsible for the suppression of irrelevant information.
Descriptors: Figurative Language, Sentences, Inhibition, Reading Skills, Knowledge Representation, Learning Processes, Semantics
American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721 (Toll Free); Tel: 202-336-5510; TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: journals@apa.org.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A