Phonological recoding in lexical decision: Effects of spelling-to-sound regularity depend on how regularity is defined

This study is concerned with two contrasting accounts of lexieal access in reading, phonological receding and direct access. Experiment I demonstrated that exception words that have a guide to their pronunciation listed in theOxford Paperback Dictionary (e.g., GAUGE) gave rise to longer lexical decision times than matched regular words (e.g., GRILL). Experiment 2 contrasted three types of words: exceptions that have dictionary-listed pronunciations, exceptions without listed pronunciations, and regular words. Lexieal decision responses to the first type were significantly longer than those produced to the other two types. Nonlisted exception words, however, did not differ from regular words. Experiment 3 confirmed the results of Experiment 2, using pronunciation speed as the dependent measure. Experiment 4 showed that the slower lexical decision times associated with dictionary-listed exception words remain when subjects are given speeded-response instructions. In contrast to earlier studies of a similar kind, these results indicate the existence of a phonological receding stage in reading. Furthermore, they suggest that the phonological recoding system is more flexible than was previously thought.