Abstract
Current models of word reading differ in their descriptions of how print-to-sound conversion is performed. Whereas a parallel procedure is generally assumed, the dual-route cascaded model developed by Coltheart and colleagues (Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Ziegler, 2001) holds that the nonlexical conversion operates letter by letter, serially from left to right. An interesting aspect of the hypothesized serial procedure is that only the first letter of two-letter graphemes is thought to cause activation of its corresponding phonological code, the second letter of multiletter graphemes being directly merged with the preceding letter to form a complex grapheme. This hypothesis was examined in a task in which participants had to detect target phonemes in visually presented pseudowords. The data suggest that phonological codes associated with all the letters of the multiletter graphemes are activated.
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Peereman, R., Brand, M. & Rey, A. Letter-by-letter processing in the phonological conversion of multiletter graphemes: Searching for sounds in printed pseudowords. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 13, 38–44 (2006). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193810
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193810