Psychological Aspects of Transitive Verbs I

It has previously been shown that transitive verbs are more difficult to recall than intransitive. Experiment I replicated this finding. Experiment II examined the associations to, and response latencies of, transitive and intransitive verbs. Latencies of responses did not differ, but the form class of responses was significantly different. Transitive verbs elicited more noun responses. It is suggested that the lexical entry provided for transitive verbs by Chomsky is psychologically real and will account for the observed differences.