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Context-dependent similarity effects in letter recognition.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Kinoshita, Sachiko 
Robidoux, Serje 
Guilbert, Daniel 

Abstract

In visual word recognition tasks, digit primes that are visually similar to letter string targets (e.g., 4/A, 8/B) are known to facilitate letter identification relative to visually dissimilar digits (e.g., 6/A, 7/B); in contrast, with letter primes, visual similarity effects have been elusive. In the present study we show that the visual similarity effect with letter primes can be made to come and go, depending on whether it is necessary to discriminate between visually similar letters. The results support a Bayesian view which regards letter recognition not as a passive activation process driven by the fixed stimulus properties, but as a dynamic evidence accumulation process for a decision that is guided by the task context.

Description

Keywords

Abstract letter identity, Letter identification, Orthographic processing, Attention, Bayes Theorem, Comprehension, Decision Making, Discrimination, Psychological, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Perceptual Masking, Reaction Time, Reading, Repetition Priming, Semantics, Young Adult

Journal Title

Psychon Bull Rev

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1069-9384
1531-5320

Volume Title

22

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC