Word Frequency Effect: Impact of expertise versus non-expert familiarity on response time and accuracy
Authors
Lonergan, Joanne
Issue Date
2025.16.12
Degree
BA in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Open Access
Abstract
A word recognition task was used to examine the impact of expertise and non-expert familiarity on response time and accuracy. The literature suggests frequently encountered words are recognised quicker (word frequency affect) but less accurately (mirror effect of frequency) than low frequency words. Response time and accuracy were analysed across three groups: legal practitioners, final year psychology students (pseudo-experts) and control group. Analysis suggests that expertise over and above a non-expert familiarity resulted in faster response times re-emphasising the impact of subjective expertise on the word recognition. However, legal practitioners were significantly more accurate, irrespective of word type, suggesting that the mirror effect of frequency can be overridden by training. Finally, it is argued that legal practitioners have an objectively demonstrable subjective frequency which should be utilised in future studies to explore when demonstrable knowledge becomes sufficient to be deemed “expertise†for the purpose of word recognition tasks.