Size and case of type as stimuli in reading

The role of size and case of print have provoked a number of experiments in the recent past. One strongly argued position is that the reader abstracts a canonical representation from a string of letters that renders its variations irrelevant and then carries out recognition procedures on that abstraction. An alternate view argues that the reader proceeds by analyzing the print, taking account of its manifold physical attributes such as length of words, their orientation, shape, and the like. In the present experiments size and case were varied in several ways, and the task was also varied to include both silent reading and reading aloud. Clear evidence for shape-sensing operations was brought forward, but they were shown to be optional rather than obligatory processes, used when it served the reader's purpose to do so. However, it was also shown that such skills, normally useful, could be tricked into operating even when their presence hindered the reader's performance. The conclusion is drawn that reading goes forward in many ways at once rather than through an orderly sequence of operations, consistent with the reader's skills and the requirements of the task. Overarching theories of performance seem premature in the absence of detailed analysis of task components.     

Bounding of letter sequences and the integration of visually presented words

Ss wrote down letters that were presented briefly in various temporal and geometric arrangements. Results reveal marked impairment in processing more than one temporally extended word in parallel. The impairment cannot be attributed to spatial separation of letters by itself, to sequence, or to inability to discriminate the letters. The concept of ‘bounding’ is introduced to account for the perception of familiar words in a continuing flow of information; the results suggest that only one object can be bounded at a time. They also suggest that the information that guides the eyes' movements in reading is qualitatively different from the information extracted from the printed text.     

Orientation of letters and their speed of recognition

In classical theories of perception, the visual experience is usually a passive reflection of the geometry of the stimulus. In modern “constructive” theories, the stimulus is a source of clues to an active problem-solving process in the visual system. Such theories require specification of what clues are important, and how they are used. This experiment required Ss to name inverted, reflected, and rotated alphabetic characters, scanning both from left to right and from right to left. Results show that neither direction of scan nor orientation of letters individually accounts for performance, but that their interaction does. Ss recognize letters by seeking clues to their identity within the context of the scanning motor sequence. The clues used (the “elements” of recognition) do not correspond directly to formal aspects of the geometry of the letters.     

The recognition of geometrically transformed text

In two experiments it was found that the difficulty of recognizing geometrically transformed text varied with the transformation imposed upon it. In one experiment the text was in English and the Ss were native speakers of English; in the second, the text was in Hebrew and the Ss were native speakers of Hebrew. The two languages are read in opposite directions. Nevertheless, the order of difficulty of the trans-formations was similar with the two texts. The results are interpreted to show that the visual systems contains “trans-formation operators” as well as the more widely publicized “detectors.”     

Discontinuity in cognitive skill

Skill at reading geometrically transformed text improves as a function of practice across pages. A belief in continuity of learning must suppose a proportionate improvement in skill within pages. We tested for continuity of learning by comparing performance within pages with performance between pages, varying timing of text presentation and quantity of text presented for the purpose. Reanalysis of some published data and three new experiments indicated that skill is acquired continuously as a function of practice but is expressed discontinuously. We conjecture that the expression of skill requires perceptual segregation of tasks into task units to which skill is transferred, whereas acquisition of competence occurs as a strict function of practice.