When are semantic targets detected faster than visual or acoustic ones?

Three experiments explored G. Cohen’s (1970) finding that semantic targets can be detected faster than visual or acoustic ones when searching through meaningful prose, indicating that when words are presented in context, either: (a) the unit of word perception is the entire word, or (b) theunit of identification or awareness is at least as large as the entireword.

Abstract

Three experiments explored G. Cohen’s (1970) finding that semantic targets can be detected faster than visual or acoustic ones when searching through meaningful prose. In all three experiments, the subject searched a sentence for a target defined visually, acoustically, or semantically. In Experiment I, the subject detected semantic targets faster than visual- or acoustic-syllable targets, regardless of whether he was instructed to read the sentence for meaning or simply scan it. Experiments II and III showed that this advantage of semantic targets over visual or acoustic ones was greatly reduced when all three types of targets were words. The results were interpreted as indicating that when words are presented in context, either: (a) the unit of word perception is the entire word, or (b) the unit of identification or awareness is at least as large as the entire word.