Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading

Timothy R. Jordan, Sharon M. Thomas, Geoffrey R. Patching, Kenneth C. Scott-Brown

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

58 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Exterior letter pairs (e.g., d--k in dark) play a major role in single-word recognition, but other research (D. Briihl & A. W. Inhoff, 1995) indicates no such role in reading text. This issue was examined by visually degrading letter pairs in three positions in words (initial, exterior, and interior) in text. Each degradation slowed reading rate compared with an undegraded control. However, whereas degrading initial and interior pairs slowed reading rate to a similar extent, degrading exterior pairs slowed reading rate most of all. Moreover, these effects were obtained when letter identities across pair positions varied naturally and when they were matched. The findings suggest that exterior letter pairs play a preferential role in reading, and candidates for this role are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)883-893
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition
Volume29
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2003

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Jordan, Timothy R. ; Thomas, Sharon M. ; Patching, Geoffrey R. ; Scott-Brown, Kenneth C. / Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition. 2003 ; Vol. 29, No. 5. pp. 883-893.
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Jordan, TR, Thomas, SM, Patching, GR & Scott-Brown, KC 2003, 'Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading', Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 883-893. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.29.5.883

Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading. / Jordan, Timothy R.; Thomas, Sharon M.; Patching, Geoffrey R.; Scott-Brown, Kenneth C.

In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, Vol. 29, No. 5, 09.2003, p. 883-893.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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AU - Jordan, Timothy R.

AU - Thomas, Sharon M.

AU - Patching, Geoffrey R.

AU - Scott-Brown, Kenneth C.

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N2 - Exterior letter pairs (e.g., d--k in dark) play a major role in single-word recognition, but other research (D. Briihl & A. W. Inhoff, 1995) indicates no such role in reading text. This issue was examined by visually degrading letter pairs in three positions in words (initial, exterior, and interior) in text. Each degradation slowed reading rate compared with an undegraded control. However, whereas degrading initial and interior pairs slowed reading rate to a similar extent, degrading exterior pairs slowed reading rate most of all. Moreover, these effects were obtained when letter identities across pair positions varied naturally and when they were matched. The findings suggest that exterior letter pairs play a preferential role in reading, and candidates for this role are discussed.

AB - Exterior letter pairs (e.g., d--k in dark) play a major role in single-word recognition, but other research (D. Briihl & A. W. Inhoff, 1995) indicates no such role in reading text. This issue was examined by visually degrading letter pairs in three positions in words (initial, exterior, and interior) in text. Each degradation slowed reading rate compared with an undegraded control. However, whereas degrading initial and interior pairs slowed reading rate to a similar extent, degrading exterior pairs slowed reading rate most of all. Moreover, these effects were obtained when letter identities across pair positions varied naturally and when they were matched. The findings suggest that exterior letter pairs play a preferential role in reading, and candidates for this role are discussed.

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Jordan TR, Thomas SM, Patching GR, Scott-Brown KC. Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition. 2003 Sep;29(5):883-893. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.29.5.883

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