Korean Hangul Is More Robust to a Serial Bottleneck: Co-Occurring and Semantically Related Korean Words Can Be Processed in Parallel.

Can readers process multiple words simultaneously, and are there cultural differences in attentional bottleneck in lexical processing? To answer these questions, we asked participants to view two words and categorize only one (single-task) or both words (dual-task), using Korean word pairs that freq...

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Publicado en:Journal of Experimental Psychology. General Vol. 154; no. 7; pp. 1878 - 1888
Autores principales: Yoo, Sang-Ah, Joo, Sung Jun
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Psychological Association Jul2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      jtl: Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
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      dt: Jul2025
      vid: 154
      iid: 7
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      pub: American Psychological Association
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        186083213
        10.1037/xge0001778
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        atl: Korean Hangul Is More Robust to a Serial Bottleneck: Co-Occurring and Semantically Related Korean Words Can Be Processed in Parallel.
      aug:
        au:
          Yoo, Sang-Ah
          Joo, Sung Jun
        affil: Department of Psychology, Pusan National University
      keyword:
        Korean words
        parallel processing
        visual attention
        visual word recognition
        word relations
        Korean words
        parallel processing
        visual attention
        visual word recognition
        word relations
      ab: Can readers process multiple words simultaneously, and are there cultural differences in attentional bottleneck in lexical processing? To answer these questions, we asked participants to view two words and categorize only one (single-task) or both words (dual-task), using Korean word pairs that frequently co-occur and are semantically related. We hypothesized that the coactivation of related words could facilitate lexical processing, and that the unique characteristics of Korean Hangul, such as its shallow orthographic depth and clear-cut syllabic boundaries, would enhance this effect. The results suggest that Korean Hangul is more robust to a serial processing bottleneck. Unlike the previous findings in English, independent or unrelated Korean word pairs were not processed in a strictly serial manner. Furthermore, the results for co-occurring and semantically related words supported the parallel processing model. Interestingly, for regularly co-occurring words, accuracy for one word increased if the participant was also correct about the other. These findings suggest that the relation between the words and the properties of writing systems should be considered in the long-standing serial versus parallel debate in reading research. Public Significance Statement: Reading is a critical human behavior that supports knowledge acquisition, communication, and personal achievements. Understanding the intricacies of the reading process is crucial for gaining insights into human cognition. However, the enduring debate regarding whether readers process multiple words in parallel or serially remains unresolved. An often-overlooked aspect of this debate is the relation between words and the characteristics of diverse writing systems. When reading semantically related words, they are likely to be recognized more efficiently compared with unrelated words because the activation of one word may facilitate the activation of related words. Furthermore, differences in writing systems, such as letter-sound correspondences and word/syllable boundaries, can influence the amount of perceptual and cognitive processing required during reading. Our study suggests that several factors should be considered to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying reading.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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