Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision
Neurobiological models of reading assume that the specialized detectors at the letter level (e.g., the arrays of detectors for the letter ‘n’) possess a certain degree of tolerance (e.g., Local Combination Detectors model, Dehaene et al. 2005). In this study, we designed two lexical decision experim...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Cognition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.journalofcognition.org/index.php/up-j-jc/article/view/322 |
| _version_ | 1797656019454656512 |
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| author | Manuel Perea Inka Romero-Ortells Melanie Labusch María Fernández-López Ana Marcet |
| author_facet | Manuel Perea Inka Romero-Ortells Melanie Labusch María Fernández-López Ana Marcet |
| author_sort | Manuel Perea |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Neurobiological models of reading assume that the specialized detectors at the letter level (e.g., the arrays of detectors for the letter ‘n’) possess a certain degree of tolerance (e.g., Local Combination Detectors model, Dehaene et al. 2005). In this study, we designed two lexical decision experiments that examined the limits of tolerance of letter detectors by introducing a novel manipulation involving shifting letter halves (e.g., animal in Experiment 1; animal in Experiment 2) relative to intact items. This manipulation alters the transition between upper and lower parts of the letters, adding junctions that do not exist in the intact letter forms. We included high- and low-frequency words in the stimulus list to investigate whether letter distortion affects processing beyond the letter level, reasoning that interactive effects would signal top-down lexical feedback. In Experiment 1, which employed a subtle letter shift, we observed a minimal cost of letter distortion that did not interact with word frequency. Experiment 2, employing a larger letter shift, revealed an overall greater reading cost that affected differentially high- and low-frequency words. Overall, these findings offer insights into the limits of resilience in letter detectors to distortion during word recognition and introduce a novel manipulation of letter distortion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:23:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f623e8a775af41db87599d4759f0efd6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2514-4820 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:23:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Cognition |
| spelling | doaj.art-f623e8a775af41db87599d4759f0efd62023-10-19T08:10:28ZengUbiquity PressJournal of Cognition2514-48202023-09-0161565610.5334/joc.322321Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical DecisionManuel Perea0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3291-1365Inka Romero-Ortells1https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3888-6129Melanie Labusch2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5556-4685María Fernández-López3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7419-7369Ana Marcet4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8755-5903Department of Methodology and ERI-Lectura, Universitat de València, Valencia; Centro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición (CINC), Universidad Nebrija, MadridCentro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición (CINC), Universidad Nebrija, MadridDepartment of Methodology and ERI-Lectura, Universitat de València, Valencia; Centro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición (CINC), Universidad Nebrija, MadridDepartment of Basic Psychology, Methodology, and ERI-Lectura, Universitat de València, Valencia; Department of Psychology and Sociology, School of Social and Human Sciences, Universidad de Zaragoza, TeruelGrupo de Investigación en Enseñanza de Lenguas (GIEL), Department of Language and Literature Teaching, Universitat de València, ValenciaNeurobiological models of reading assume that the specialized detectors at the letter level (e.g., the arrays of detectors for the letter ‘n’) possess a certain degree of tolerance (e.g., Local Combination Detectors model, Dehaene et al. 2005). In this study, we designed two lexical decision experiments that examined the limits of tolerance of letter detectors by introducing a novel manipulation involving shifting letter halves (e.g., animal in Experiment 1; animal in Experiment 2) relative to intact items. This manipulation alters the transition between upper and lower parts of the letters, adding junctions that do not exist in the intact letter forms. We included high- and low-frequency words in the stimulus list to investigate whether letter distortion affects processing beyond the letter level, reasoning that interactive effects would signal top-down lexical feedback. In Experiment 1, which employed a subtle letter shift, we observed a minimal cost of letter distortion that did not interact with word frequency. Experiment 2, employing a larger letter shift, revealed an overall greater reading cost that affected differentially high- and low-frequency words. Overall, these findings offer insights into the limits of resilience in letter detectors to distortion during word recognition and introduce a novel manipulation of letter distortion.https://account.journalofcognition.org/index.php/up-j-jc/article/view/322lexical accessword recognitionlexical decisionletter distortion |
| spellingShingle | Manuel Perea Inka Romero-Ortells Melanie Labusch María Fernández-López Ana Marcet Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision Journal of Cognition lexical access word recognition lexical decision letter distortion |
| title | Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision |
| title_full | Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision |
| title_fullStr | Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision |
| title_short | Examining Letter Detector Tolerance through Offset Letter Halves: Evidence from Lexical Decision |
| title_sort | examining letter detector tolerance through offset letter halves evidence from lexical decision |
| topic | lexical access word recognition lexical decision letter distortion |
| url | https://account.journalofcognition.org/index.php/up-j-jc/article/view/322 |
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