The processing of morphologically complex words by developing readers of Turkish: a masked priming study

This study investigated the early stages of morphological processing in Turkish-speaking children using the visual masked priming paradigm. We used different prime conditions (truly suffixed, pseudo-suffixed, non-suffixed, and semantic) and measured reading proficiency skills (vocabulary, spelling, reading speed, and comprehension) to investigate whether prime types or individual differences modulate early word processing. Our sample of children showed priming effects for truly suffixed words, without sound differences between derived and inflected primes in their reaction times. The reaction times of the participants decreased with increasing reading proficiency in the experimental conditions. The results suggest a sensitivity for suffixes in the early word processing of Turkish primary school children rather than sensitivities for pseudo-suffixes, orthographic overlap, or semantic similarity.
Source: Reading and Writing - Category: Child Development Source Type: research