Parts, wholes, and context in reading: a triple dissociation.
Research in object recognition has tried to distinguish holistic recognition from recognition by parts. One can also guess an object from its context. Words are objects, and how we recognize them is the core question of reading research. Do fast readers rely most on letter-by-letter decoding (i.e., recognition by parts), whole word shape, or sentence context? We manipulated the text to selectively knock out each source of information while sparing the others. Surprisingly, the effects of the knockouts on reading rate reveal a triple dissociation. Each reading process always contributes the same number of words per minute, regardless of whether the other processes are operating.
Pelli
Denis G
DG
Psychology and Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America. denis.pelli@nyu.edu
Tillman
Katharine A
KA
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011932:Reading; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*