Frequency effects and lexical access: On the interpretation of null pseudohomophone base-word frequency effects

Several researchers have recently argued that pseudohomophone (e.g., phocks) naming latency is not sensitive to base-word (e.g., fox) frequency. When interpreting this null base-word frequency effect on pseudohomophone naming latency, it is important to rule out the possibility that the selection of base words is responsible. Reliable word-frequency effects were found on word-naming latency (i.e., higher frequency words were associated with shorter naming latencies) when using R. S. McCann and D. Besner's (1987) and C. M. Herdman, I. LeFevre, and S. L. Greenham's (1996) word stimuli, in contrast, no such frequency effect on word-naming latency was found when using M. S. Seidenberg, A. Petersen, M. C. MacDonald, and D. C. Plaut's (1996) stimuli. A null pseudohomophone base-word frequency effect is rendered uninterpretable in the absence of a reliable base-word frequency effect.