中文單字記憶中的字先效果

The Word Priority Effect in Remembering Chinese Characters

「字先效果」指的是，單字會比隱藏在單字中的部件容易被念出來，也比較容易被認出來和回憶出來。本研究的目的在藉著測驗受試者的再認記憶，驗証以上的假設。研究主旨在探討在中文單字的記憶中，單字中的部件是否有被認出或記住。實驗操弄單字的頻率以及單字中部件的頻率。在學習階段，受試者分別學習單字或單字中的部件。在再認記憶測驗中，受試者需對單字或單字中的部件作「是」、「否」出現的判斷。實驗的結果發現，在受試者學習中文單字之後，在再認記憶測驗中，部件的表現會差過單字的表現。更重要的是，在學習單字的情況下，並沒有部件的頻率效果，而有顯著的單字頻率效果。這些結果顯示，在中文單字的記憶中，部件並沒有扮演重要的角色。這個結果符合「字先效果」的預測。本研究並討論這個結果在閱讀理解中的意涵。

The word priority hypothesis proposes that words should be pronounced faster, recognized and remembered better than the embedded words. The present study investigated one aspect of this hypothesis-- words are remembered better than the embedded words. The recognition memory paradigm was used to examine the role of the embedded characters (the radicals) in remembering Chinese characters. The results from two experiments showed that when participants studied characters and were later tested recognition memory for radicals, they performed worse than when were tested for characters. In addition, when the study items were characters, there was no effect of radical frequency. However, a clear effect of character frequency was found. These findings suggested that radicals did not play an important role in remembering characters and thus were consistent with the word priority hypothesis. The implication of this conclusion in terms of a regular reading comprehension process was discussed.