RESOLUTION OF LEXICAL AMBIGUITY BY EMOTIONAL STATE

The role of emotion in the resolution of lexical ambiguity was investi gated. Happy and sad subjects listened to a list of words that include d homophones that had happy and neutral meanings (e.g., presents-prese nce) and homophones that had sad and neutral meanings (e.g., mourning- morning). Words were presented every 3 s, and subjects wrote down the words as they heard them. (Meaning could be identified by spelling in all cases.) An interaction between emotional state and homophone categ ory was observed: Sad subjects were more likely to write down sad mean ings than were happy subjects. Results are discussed with reference to the literatures on both emotion and lexical access.