Reading by letters or words

Question

Stefan Ram pointed the folks of de.etc.sprache.deutsch to the following research, dealing with word recognition:
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/icons/worddemo.html
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/pelli2003nature.pdf

I know several people here are intertested in that kind of stuff.

The essential conclusion is that human reading performance is much closer to a character recognition model than a whole word recognition model, thus that even small words like "the", where simultaneous visual input is possible, cannot be recognized "at a glance".

This type of study has its limitations, notably that it deals with recognition of words out of context, but I think it is a well-designed study that worked to eliminate many alternative explanations, and the evidence as measured is very strong.

Oliver Cromm
Fatal exception in module gravitation.dll. Instable state of cosmos. The universe will be restarted now. Any unsaved data will be lost. (after an idea from "Boarder Lord" at www.heise.de)

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Stefan Ram pointed the folks of de.etc.sprache.deutsch to the following research, dealing with word recognition: http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/icons/worddemo.html http://www.psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/pelli2003nature.pdf I know several ... it is a well-designed study that worked to eliminate many alternative explanations, and the evidence as measured is very strong.[/nq]
I haven't studied the article, but my experience doesn't fit.

I've observed that when I try to read Russian (which I find difficult because the lower-case letters are simply smaller versions of the upper-case versions, and are thus harder to read) I find I recognise words I know quickly, but words I do not know slow me down because I have to read them letter by letter.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

Quoth Steve Hayes:
[nq:2]http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/icons/worddemo.html http://www.psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/pelli2003nature.pdf This type of study has its limitations, notably ... alternative explanations, and the evidence as measured is very strong.[/nq]
[nq:1]I haven't studied the article, but my experience doesn't fit. I've observed that when I try to read Russian (which ... know quickly, but words I do not know slow me down because I have to read them letter by letter.[/nq]
Such an incidental observation is hardly challenging the article. Indeed, the only real-life situation similar to what the article is dealing with, is the reading of - possibly stained - traffic signs from afar or in the dark. And it explicitly deals with your mother tongue.

I have similar experience to you with Japanese, but with French, it is different: I can take in several words at a glance, look away before I understand them, and then "read" in my mind. That's presumably because I am good at reading Latin characters (and because the overall appearance of French words is similar to English and German; Vietnamese is a tad more difficult).

Oliver Cromm
Fatal exception in module gravitation.dll. Instable state of cosmos. The universe will be restarted now. Any unsaved data will be lost. (after an idea from "Boarder Lord" at www.heise.de)

Reading by letters or words

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