title: Letters in the forest: global precedence effect disappears for letters but not for non-letters under reading-like conditions.
abstract: Normally skilled reading involves special processing strategies for letters, which are habitually funneled into an abstract letter code. On the basis of previous studies we argue that this habit leads to the preferred usage of an analytic strategy for the processing of letters, while non-letters are preferably processed via a holistic strategy. The well-known global precedence effect (GPE) seems to contradict to this assumption, since, with compound, hierarchical figures, including letter items, faster responses are observed to the global than to the local level of the figure, as well as an asymmetric interference effect from global to local level. We argue that with letters these effects depend on presentation conditions; only when they elicit the processing strategies automatized for reading, an analytic strategy for letters in contrast to non-letters is to be expected. We compared the GPE for letters and non-letters in central viewing, with the global stimulus size close to the functional visual field in whole word reading (6.5° of visual angle) and local stimuli close to the critical size for fluent reading of individual letters (0.5° of visual angle). Under these conditions, the GPE remained robust for non-letters. For letters, however, it disappeared: letters showed no overall response time advantage for the global level and symmetric congruence effects (local-to-global as well as global-to-local interference). We interpret these results as according to the view that reading is based on resident analytic visual processing strategies for letters.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Science, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology Unit, University of Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lachmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Science, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology Unit, University of Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Science, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology Unit, University of Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Braet
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Science, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology Unit, University of Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern, Germany ; Experimental Psychology Unit, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Cees
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
keywords: analytic processing; congruence effect; developmental dyslexia; global advantage effect; holistic processing; literacy; reading acquisition
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2011 Oct;138(2):329-35
references.pmid: 21943833
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2009 Jan;130(1):64-71
references.pmid: 19019319
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2014 Jan;17(1):125-41
references.pmid: 24341976
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2013 Jan;142(1):51-61
references.pmid: 23232335
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014 Apr;143(2):887-94
references.pmid: 23773157
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 1991 Aug;77(1):35-46
references.pmid: 1950635
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2010 Jan 15;49(2):1837-48
references.pmid: 19770045
references.citation: Perception. 2007;36(4):617-31
references.pmid: 17564205
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2006 May;122(1):99-108
references.pmid: 16414004
references.citation: Exp Psychol. 2008;55(5):328-33
references.pmid: 25116300
references.citation: Cognition. 2005 Dec;98(2):B35-44
references.pmid: 15993403
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2008 Sep;129(1):121-9
references.pmid: 18586218
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1983 Feb;33(2):121-8
references.pmid: 6844103
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2004;124(1):113-20
references.pmid: 14960344
references.citation: Dev Neuropsychol. 2001;20(2):555-63
references.pmid: 11892952
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2011 Mar 15;55(2):742-9
references.pmid: 21111052
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2008 Sep;129(1):138-46
references.pmid: 18617154
references.citation: Front Evol Neurosci. 2012 Jun 12;4:8
references.pmid: 22701421
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 1983 Dec;112(4):516-40
references.pmid: 6229597
references.citation: Cogn Neuropsychol. 2009 Dec;26(8):759-68
references.pmid: 21793794
references.citation: Clin Neurophysiol. 2013 Feb;124(2):315-26
references.pmid: 22939780
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1988 Aug;14(3):481-502
references.pmid: 2971775
references.citation: Perception. 2009;38(7):1019-34
references.pmid: 19764304
references.citation: Dev Neuropsychol. 2007;31(1):61-77
references.pmid: 17305438
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jun 8;107(23):10389-94
references.pmid: 20498069
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2005 Aug;16(8):631-6
references.pmid: 16102066
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2008 Jan;127(1):1-11
references.pmid: 17240344
references.citation: Brain Lang. 2012 Apr;121(1):1-11
references.pmid: 22377262
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2009 Jun;103(2):222-40
references.pmid: 18973909
references.citation: Ergonomics. 1970 Jan;13(1):101-17
references.pmid: 5416864
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 2000 Jan;62(1):100-12
references.pmid: 10703259
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1981 Dec;7(6):1161-74
references.pmid: 6458645
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011;6(6):e20753
references.pmid: 21698240
references.citation: Exp Psychol. 2014 Jan 01;61(1):23-9
references.pmid: 23948388
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2012 Nov;138(6):1172-217
references.pmid: 22845751
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2011 Apr;49(5):1258-1266
references.pmid: 21281654
references.citation: Can J Psychol. 1986 Dec;40(4):473-83
references.pmid: 3502884
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(13):1805-13
references.pmid: 15351629
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2010 Jan;31(1):1-13
references.pmid: 19621367
references.citation: Cogn Neuropsychol. 2008 Jul;25(5):730-44
references.pmid: 18671156
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1984 Apr;35(4):361-71
references.pmid: 6739271
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 1990 Mar;73(2):131-43
references.pmid: 2343769
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1997 Feb;59(2):187-201
references.pmid: 9055615
references.citation: Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2005 Dec;5(4):452-66
references.pmid: 16541814
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2007 Jun;125(2):203-20
references.pmid: 16914108
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1994 May;55(5):562-74
references.pmid: 8008557
references.citation: Percept Mot Skills. 1998 Jun;86(3 Pt 2):1427-41
references.pmid: 9700823
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 2011 May;140(2):210-38
references.pmid: 21280970
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2009 May 1;45(4):1272-88
references.pmid: 19349240
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1990 May;47(5):489-96
references.pmid: 2349061
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 2004 Aug;66(6):908-25
references.pmid: 15675640
references.citation: Clin Neurophysiol. 2003 Oct;114(10):1850-65
references.pmid: 14499747
references.citation: Dyslexia. 2010 Aug;16(3):194-212
references.pmid: 20680991
references.citation: Atten Percept Psychophys. 2011 Nov;73(8):2542-72
references.pmid: 21901573
references.citation: Perception. 1983;12(3):239-54
references.pmid: 6669451
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2011 Aug 1;57(3):695-703
references.pmid: 21056673
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1979 Mar;25(3):225-31
references.pmid: 461079
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 1997 Feb;95(2):141-64
references.pmid: 9062062
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2006 Jul;122(3):321-36
references.pmid: 16574048
references.citation: Vision Res. 1985;25(2):239-52
references.pmid: 4013091
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1993 Jan;53(1):34-42
references.pmid: 8433904
references.citation: Atten Percept Psychophys. 2012 Oct;74(7):1397-405
references.pmid: 22872549
references.citation: J Vis. 2007 Mar 07;7(2):9.1-15
references.pmid: 18217824
references.citation: Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 1998 Apr;6(4):321-34
references.pmid: 9593970
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011;6(6):e20879
references.pmid: 21687636
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1993 Jan;53(1):89-105
references.pmid: 8433909
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1988 Aug;44(2):172-81
references.pmid: 3405744
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1995 Apr;57(3):379-92
references.pmid: 7770328
references.citation: Vision Res. 2008 Oct;48(22):2382-93
references.pmid: 18722398
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2008 Jun;100(2):135-45
references.pmid: 18328498
references.citation: Neuron. 2007 Oct 25;56(2):384-98
references.pmid: 17964253
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1982 Aug;8(4):521-35
references.pmid: 6214605
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1983 Dec;9(6):955-65
references.pmid: 6227704
references.citation: Science. 2010 Dec 3;330(6009):1359-64
references.pmid: 21071632
references.citation: Mind Brain Educ. 2013 Jun 1;7(2):
references.pmid: 24273596
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1981 Dec;7(6):1175-82
references.pmid: 6458646
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2003 Nov;114(3):273-309
references.pmid: 14670701
references.citation: Ann Dyslexia. 2005 Jun;55(1):28-52
references.pmid: 16107779
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1992 Jul;112(1):24-38
references.pmid: 1529037
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2008 Jun;100(2):79-88
references.pmid: 18343399
references.citation: Psychon Bull Rev. 2015 Feb;22(1):228-34
references.pmid: 24853536