Swinney's lexical priming studies using ambiguous words as stimuli show that context
A) immediately affects the activation of word meanings so that only the meaning fitting the sentence is ever activated.
B) causes the meaning fitting the sentence to be activated first, followed by later activation of the other meaning.
C) exerts its influence after all meanings of the word have been briefly accessed.
D) has no effect on the activation of the word meanings.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Swinney's studies suggest that when an ambiguous word is encountered, all potential meanings are initially accessed, and context influences which meaning is retained or becomes more prominent after this initial access.

Swinney's Lexical Priming Studies Using Ambiguous Words as Stimuli Show