Evidence for dual-route morphological processing across the lifespan: data from Russian noun plurals

This study aimed at examining morphological processing mechanisms involved in lexical access across the lifespan in the morphologically complex Russian language. We conducted an unprimed lexical decision experiment using number-dominant nouns in participants of a wide age range (n = 190, 9–87 years old), analysing age as a continuous factor. Additionally, we tested whether morphological processing mechanisms are affected by a linguistic factor – the type of plural formation. The results revealed no age-related change in morphological processing mechanisms in Russian: the processing mechanisms were consistent with the dual-route models across the lifespan. This suggests that morphological processing mechanisms are stable across the lifespan even in a morphologically complex language like Russian. Null effects of the type of plural formation provide evidence in favour of a special status of citation forms.