title: Context-dependent similarity effects in letter recognition.
abstract: In visual word recognition tasks, digit primes that are visually similar to letter string targets (e.g., 4/A, 8/B) are known to facilitate letter identification relative to visually dissimilar digits (e.g., 6/A, 7/B); in contrast, with letter primes, visual similarity effects have been elusive. In the present study we show that the visual similarity effect with letter primes can be made to come and go, depending on whether it is necessary to discriminate between visually similar letters. The results support a Bayesian view which regards letter recognition not as a passive activation process driven by the fixed stimulus properties, but as a dynamic evidence accumulation process for a decision that is guided by the task context.
authors: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD), Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia. sachiko.kinoshita@mq.edu.au.
authors: Sachiko
authors: S
authors: Kinoshita
authors: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD), Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors: Serje
authors: S
authors: Robidoux
authors: Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Guilbert
authors: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
authors: Dennis
authors: D
authors: Norris
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D032882:Comprehension; D003657:Decision Making; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D060865:Repetition Priming; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Abstract letter identity; Letter identification; Orthographic processing