Effect of number of logographeme on reading in Chinese : evidence from naming and lexical decision task

Abstract

Logographeme has been identified as a core unit of orthographic representation by investigating data in writing, yet the evidence of logographeme effect in Chinese reading is less pronounced. The current study explored logographeme effect in word recognition and naming of 4376 Chinese characters in 20 participants through analysing three main effects - logographeme number, word frequency and task. Mixed-effect modelling was used to analyse performances in response latency, accuracy and pupil dilation in naming and lexical decision task. After controlling for stroke number, results reflected a logographeme effect in latency where words with more logographeme numbers were slower to recognise and name. Highfrequency characters with many logographeme numbers gave longer response time and smaller pupil dilation. A three-way interaction between logographeme number, frequency and tasks indicated that word recognition was hardest when encountering low frequency words as orthographical processing was dependent on logographeme number during character recognition task. This study verified the existence of logographemes as a basic unit in the orthographical input layer during character recognition and naming. Modification of current models of Chinese reading to accommodate the presence of logographeme in the orthographic processing layer are suggested.