Gedik T, De la Garza Espinosa V (2025)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2025
Book Volume: 260
Article Number: 105735
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105735
Semantic fluency tasks assess the ability to generate words within a category under time constraints and are shaped by linguistic, cognitive, and experiential factors such as literacy. This study examined how reading fluency (a proxy for literacy) and education are associated with performance in adult Turkish speakers across three semantic categories of varying ecological validity: animals, fruits, and household objects. Forty-four participants (24 illiterate, 20 literate; aged 21–80) completed the task. Literate participants produced significantly more words than illiterate participants in all categories (p < 0.001), including those reflecting everyday experience (i.e., fruits, and household objects). Regression analyses revealed that reading fluency was the only significant predictor (final model: reading composite β = 0.765, p < 0.0001; R2 = 0.58). These results suggest that literacy may broaden vocabulary and world knowledge and enhance retrieval efficiency, highlighting its role in semantic fluency even for ecologically familiar categories.
APA:
Gedik, T., & De la Garza Espinosa, V. (2025). Literacy boosts semantic fluency even in ecologically valid categories. Acta Psychologica, 260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105735
MLA:
Gedik, Tan, and Vania De la Garza Espinosa. "Literacy boosts semantic fluency even in ecologically valid categories." Acta Psychologica 260 (2025).
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