ISSN : 1226-9654
본 연구에서는 정신적 회전과제를 사용하여 각기 다른 방향에서 제시되는 한글단어에 대해 어휘결정을 하도록 하였을 때 한글단어의 처리가 어떻게 수행되는지를 살펴보았다. 실험 1에서는 1음절 단어의 복잡성을 3가지로 구분하고 각기 다른 방향에서 무선적으로 제시한 후에 각 조건별로 반응시간을 측정하였고 실험 2에서는 음절수를 2, 3, 4음절로 조정하여 각 조건에 따른 반응 시간을 측정하였다. 실험 3에서는 한글단어의 시각을 일정하게 유지시키고 시각이 같은 3음절과 4음절의 한글글자를 제시하여 음절수, 회전정도, 단어여부에 따른 반응시간을 살펴보았다. 그 결과 한글단어는 복잡할수록 반응시간이 길었고 회전정도가 클수록 반응시간이 길었으며 시각보다는 음절수가 어휘결정에 더 중요한 변인이었다.
Using mental rotation paradigm, the present study examined underlying mechanisms of how Korean words are being processed. In Experiment 1, by varying visual complexity of words using 2- to 4-character words, mono-syllabic words wers rotated and presented from various angles at random and lexical decision times were compared. The results showed that regardless of lexicality and the degree of rotation, words of fewer characters were decided faster. This evidence supports the argument that mono-syllabic Korean words are being processed in a piecemeal fashion. In Experiment 2, same tasks were given to the subjects with words of 2- to 4-syllables. Here, words that contained more syllables took longer to decide. This finding was similar with the first experiment supporting piecemeal type processing of multi-syllabic Korean words. Previous research have argued that size of mental image to be processed can also influence decision times in spatial tasks such as mental rotation. To exclude the possibilty of such a factor, Experiment 3 controlled visual angle of 3- and 4-syllabic words by varying the physical size of each syllable. Still, the latency pattern was comparable to that of Experiment 2 which supports an analog-type processing in Korean words. Directions of further research and limitations of the present work were also discussed.