Chapter 1. Word Superiority
1.1 Introduction
Word Superiority
Reading is a complex ability so well practiced that despite its complexity, we read with great ease. Our skill at reading actually makes it harder to study because we read so incredibly fast. Many features about the reading task support our speed. One important feature is the context. When we are young, we often learn words by paying attention to the letters. Over time we learn to use the context of the word to read. In some ways we are faster at reading words than letters. Think of the Stroop task. In the Stroop task, you have to name the font color, which is different than the actual word; for example, the word “blue” in red font. Reading the word is so automatic that it makes the naming of the color difficult. If the thinking here is correct, then we should be better at identifying letters when they are in a word than when they are alone or in a nonsensical pattern. We will examine the use of the context of a word to help us identify letters in this experiment.
References:
Reicher, G. M. (1969). Perceptual recognition as a function of meaningfulness of stimulus material. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81(2), 275-280.
1.2 Experiment Setup
1.3 Instructions
Instructions
In this task you will be presented with a stimulus: a word, a letter alone, or scrambled letters. The stimulus will be presented very briefly. After the stimulus is presented, you will be shown a pattern like this:
--?-
N or V
Your task is to try to recall the letter that appeared in the position indicated by the question mark. In this example, if you were shown a word, you would report the third letter in the word; if it was a scrambled word, you report the letter in the third position; and if you were shown just a single letter, you just need to report which letter you were shown. The correct letter will be one of the two choices shown below the pattern of dashes. Just type the letter you recall. Typing a letter will take you to the next trial. You will not advance unless you type one of the two letters indicated. Case does not matter.
1.4 Experiment
Begin Experiment
1.5 Results
Results
1.6 Quiz
Quiz