What is the Origin of Rapid Morphological Effects? A Preliminary Meta-analysis Investigating the Contribution of Meaning and Form in Masked Morphological Priming in Nonnative Derived Words

This study conducted a preliminary meta-analysis to investigate the origins of rapid morphological effects in masked morphological priming in nonnative derived words. Data were drawn from 44 selected studies, including a total of 1,142 nonnative participants and 2,225 native participants across various language backgrounds. Studies were selected based on specific criteria, including a focus on masked priming effects with Transparent, Opaque, and Form conditions, and prime durations under 84 ms. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the priming effects of Transparent (e.g., worker-WORK), Opaque (e.g., corner-CORN), and Form (e.g., think-THIN) conditions, as well as to assess the interaction effects of group (native vs. nonnative) and prime type (Transparent vs. Opaque vs. Form). The study’s findings revealed that: (a) while native speakers demonstrated graded priming effects across all three prime types (Transparent > Opaque > Form), nonnative speakers exhibited the largest priming effect in the Transparent condition, but equivalent priming effects in the Opaque and Form conditions (Transparent > Opaque = Form); (b) native and nonnative speakers had similar priming magnitudes for the Transparent and Opaque conditions, but not for the Form condition. The study’s results indicate that: (a) rapid morphological effects in the native language are the result of contributions from both morpho-semantic and morpho-orthographic mechanisms, thereby providing support for the hybrid model; (b) nonnative morphological processing leverages the morpho-semantic mechanism, providing additional support for the supralexical model; (c) unlike native speakers, nonnative speakers rely on formal overlap to process pseudo-morphological structure. Overall, the study suggests that nonnative morphological processing appears to be similar to native morphological processing, but not entirely the same.