The effect of word class on spoken-word recognition: Evidence from eye movements

During spoken-word recognition, words beginning in similar ways are jointly considered. While the concept of multiple competitor activation is generally accepted, the buildup of the competitor set is still debated. The present study used eye movements to investigate the nature of the competitor set further, particularly to test the simultaneous activation of candidate words from different word classes in German. Participants saw two printed nouns and two printed adjectives displayed together (word class in German is signaled by capitalization). One noun and one adjective overlapped phonologically in onset (Stein, 'stone', steil, 'steep'), the other two were unrelated. Eye movements of German participants were monitored while they followed spoken instructions to click on either Stein or steil. Participants looked at phonological competitors more than at distractors, for both noun and adjective targets. The results suggest that candidate words of different word classes are activated to the same extent during spoken-word recognition