Effects of age and word frequency on Korean visual word recognition: Evidence from a web-based large-scale lexical-decision task.

Abstract

The present study examined age differences in word-frequency effects in Korean visual word recognition through a large-scale, web-based lexical-decision task. Four hundred ninety-seven adult Korean speakers in their 20s through 60s participated in the task, in which they decided the lexicality of 120 Korean words varying in frequency and 120 nonwords. Overall, both lexical-decision accuracy and response times increased with age, and more frequent words were recognized more rapidly than less frequent words. We also found significant effects of participants' reading skill as well as age of acquisition of words. Crucially, despite older adults' generally slower reaction times, there was no hint of any interaction between participant age and word frequency on lexical-decision times. This result adds to the literature on age-related changes in visual word recognition and provides evidence for stable word-frequency effect across the adult age spectrum. These findings are discussed with different hypotheses of lexical access and aging proposed in the literature. Public Significance StatementThis study examined the effect of cognitive aging on the process of visual word recognition, by investigating lexical decisions on Korean words/nonwords by adult speakers from the 20s−60s. We found that although older adults were generally slower than younger adults, the size of the wordfrequency effect on lexical-decision times was constant throughout the age spectrum. These results suggest that the process of word recognition remains relatively constant across the adult lifespan.

Adult age differences in language, communication, and learning from text.

“…These findings are significant in suggesting age constancy in word recognition from the surface form even under challenging perceptual conditions. Baek et al (2024) also demonstrated age-related stability in visual word recognition, as measured by word frequency effects in Korean speakers. Using a lexical decision task with almost 500 adults in their 20s through 60s, they showed that higher frequency Korean words were recognized more quickly than lower frequency words, similar to the well-established effect that has been shown with English words.…”