The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Word superiority effect in Kanji-Kana combined words.
Language	J
AuthorList	Shogo Makioka*
Affiliation	*Department of Human Sciences, Osaka Women's University
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 16 (1), 66-72, 2000
Received	Aug 27, 1999
Accepted	Dec 21, 1999
Abstract	In Japanese, verbs are generally written in two types of letters. The stem of a verb is written in Kanji, and its suffix is written in Kana (e.g. 走る 'run'). We investigated whether word superiority effect occurs in such Kanji-Kana combined words. Subjects saw the briefly presented stimuli and were asked to answer which letter in the alternative was actually contained in the stimuli. Significant word superiority effect was observed when the alternatives were Kana (suffix), as well as when they were Kanji (stem). These results suggest that combinations of Kanji and Kana are represented in Japanese word recognition process, and that two kinds of letters are processed in the same system.
Keywords	word recognition, word superiority effect, Kanji, Kana (Hiragana)