Lexical representations of written nouns and verbs in Italian

This study investigates the differences in the input representations of
verbs and nouns in the Italian mental lexicon. One visual lexical decision
experiment in which the stem homograph effect (Laudanna, Badecker &
Caramazza, 1989) was evaluated on noun and verb targets is reported.
Strong inhibitory effects on verb targets preceded by stem homographs
relative to non-homographic word pairs were found. The effects on verb
targets were also much more reliable than the effects on noun targets. The
pattern of results provides support for the hypothesis that noun and verbs
are differently represented in the orthographic input lexicon.