Most research supports a non-selective (or exhaustive) account of activation whereby multiple meanings of a word are initially activated (as discussed in Degani & Tokowicz, 2009). But what happens to the non-selected meaning of an ambigious word (e.g., bark) and how is the decision made to select one meaning over the other? A great deal research by Gernsbacher and colleagues suggests that the non-selected meaning is \"discarded\" via active suppression, but a competing activation-only account is also proposed by Gorfein's research group. The present dissertation examines meaning-selection in ambiguous words using a word to elicit meaning context (rather than a sentence). Additionally, manipulations of perceptual focus (Experiment 2) and cognitive load (Experiment 3) were employed to examine these processes. Results agree with Gernsbacher's Structure-Building Framework (a suppression account) of meaning selection. An updated conceptualization of ambiguity resolution is proposed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Most research supports a non-selective (or exhaustive) account of activation whereby multiple meanings of a word are initially activated (as discussed in Degani & Tokowicz, 2009). But what happens to the non-selected meaning of an ambigious word (e.g., bark) and how is the decision made to select one meaning over the other? A great deal research by Gernsbacher and colleagues suggests that the non-selected meaning is "discarded" via active suppression, but a competing activation-only account is also proposed by Gorfein's research group. The present dissertation examines meaning-selection in ambiguous words using a word to elicit meaning context (rather than a sentence). Additionally, manipulations of perceptual focus (Experiment 2) and cognitive load (Experiment 3) were employed to examine these processes. Results agree with Gernsbacher's Structure-Building Framework (a suppression account) of meaning selection. An updated conceptualization of ambiguity resolution is proposed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kennette, Lynne"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lee H. Wurm"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:11Z","subjects":["ambiguity, cognitive load, perceptual focus, suppression","Cognitive Psychology","Linguistics","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/513","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lee H. Wurm"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kennette, Lynne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2012-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ambiguity, cognitive load, perceptual focus, suppression","Cognitive Psychology","Linguistics","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/513"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Most research supports a non-selective (or exhaustive) account of activation whereby multiple meanings of a word are initially activated (as discussed in Degani & Tokowicz, 2009). But what happens to the non-selected meaning of an ambigious word (e.g., bark) and how is the decision made to select one meaning over the other? A great deal research by Gernsbacher and colleagues suggests that the non-selected meaning is \"discarded\" via active suppression, but a competing activation-only account is also proposed by Gorfein's research group. The present dissertation examines meaning-selection in ambiguous words using a word to elicit meaning context (rather than a sentence). Additionally, manipulations of perceptual focus (Experiment 2) and cognitive load (Experiment 3) were employed to examine these processes. Results agree with Gernsbacher's Structure-Building Framework (a suppression account) of meaning selection. An updated conceptualization of ambiguity resolution is proposed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["On the disambiguation of meaning: the effects of perceptual focus and cognitive load"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lee H. Wurm"],"dc:creator":["Kennette, Lynne"],"dc:date.available":["2012-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Most research supports a non-selective (or exhaustive) account of activation whereby multiple meanings of a word are initially activated (as discussed in Degani & Tokowicz, 2009). But what happens to the non-selected meaning of an ambigious word (e.g., bark) and how is the decision made to select one meaning over the other? A great deal research by Gernsbacher and colleagues suggests that the non-selected meaning is \"discarded\" via active suppression, but a competing activation-only account is also proposed by Gorfein's research group. The present dissertation examines meaning-selection in ambiguous words using a word to elicit meaning context (rather than a sentence). Additionally, manipulations of perceptual focus (Experiment 2) and cognitive load (Experiment 3) were employed to examine these processes. Results agree with Gernsbacher's Structure-Building Framework (a suppression account) of meaning selection. An updated conceptualization of ambiguity resolution is proposed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/513"],"dc:subject":["ambiguity, cognitive load, perceptual focus, suppression","Cognitive Psychology","Linguistics","Psychology"],"dc:title":["On the disambiguation of meaning: the effects of perceptual focus and cognitive load"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:11Z"}