Single-character processing in a case of pure alexia.
The processing of single characters in a pure alexic patient was studied in an attempt to identify the impairment responsible for his reading disorder. Observations from Experiments 1 to 4 suggested a deficit of identification of alphanumeric stimuli without any impairment affecting the elaboration of a structural description of visual stimulation. Experiment 5 indicated that the identification disorder results from a defect in the selective processes--activation and/or inhibition--that must come into play for achieving an appropriate match between a structural description of the stimulation and representations of the identities of known stimuli. The possible implications of this deficit in single-character identification for word reading are discussed.
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Montreal Neurological Institute, Quebec, Canada.
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D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004411:Dyslexia, Acquired / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis