Cognitive style and the reading process: field-dependence differences on a lexical-decision task.
This study examined cognitive-style differences in reading strategies on a lexical-decision task. Subjects made word/nonword judgments for letter sequences consisting of either real words, English-sounding nonwords, or non-English-sounding nonwords. In line with previous findings, responses were significantly slower to English-sounding nonwords than to non-English-sounding nonwords. This effect was qualified by a significant interaction with field dependence such that field-dependent subjects were significantly slower than field-independent subjects for English-sounding nonwords but not for non-English-sounding nonwords or for real words. These findings complement a 1988 finding by Davies that field-dependent scores prefer a phonological strategy for lexical access and they provide better evidence for the role of such process differences in normal reading.
Davies
M F
MF
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, England.
D000328:Adult; D003210:Concept Formation; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010700:Phonetics; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading