2003 ISNR - Scientific Presentations

Concrete words are more quickly recognized than abstract words (Bransford & McCarrell, 1974; Paivio, 1986). Different theories of semantic processing argue that either there are more brain areas that process concrete than abstract words (bilateral versus unilateral; Paivio, 1986), or that the same brain areas process both kinds but that concrete words have more context associated with them (Bransford & McCarrell, 1974). Deep acquired dyslexia is a syndrome caused by extensive lesions to the left hemisphere, and is characterized by more semantic paralexias (e.g., read "dog" for "cat") for abstract than for concrete words (Coltheart, 1980). Some developmental disabilities also exhibit handicaps with abstract words. Second-grade poor readers recall disproportionately fewer abstract than concrete words than normally reading second-graders (Vellutino & Scanlon, 1985). Similar findings are found with pervasively hyperactive children (Sharma & Sinha, 2001).