The ubiquitous left-hemisphere advantage in visual word processing can be accounted for in different ways. Competing theories have been tested recently using cAsE-aLtErNaTiNg words to investigate boundary conditions for the typical effect. We briefly summarize this research and examine the disagreements and commonalities across the theoretical…

Perceptual processes of reading can be investigated meaningfully without having to make detailed statements about higher-level processing and about the nature of the interactions between downward flowing cognitive information and upward flowing information resulting from visual processing. (HOD)

Results from studies of language identification in noise and of word identification from tachistoscopic presentation clearly indicate that contextual information can be used to facilitate word identification under inadequate stimulus conditions. But these results do not provide strong evidence that such an interaction is occurring during normal…

Presents computational and psychophysical evidence in support of a theory of one of the earliest stages of visual processing in reading--the isolation of words in text. (HOD)

This paper discusses studies of visual dyslexia, the nature of visual processes involved in word recognition, and the contribution of visual memory to word recognition. The paper concludes that, though defects in the physiological aspects of visual processing can lead to reading difficulties, evidence does not indicate the existence of visual…

From the perspective of reading specialists, factors contributing to reading difficulties include visual and auditory limitations, instructional and environmental problems, and emotional difficulties. A hierarchy of word recognition skills is presented. The usefulness of diagnosing children learning disabled or dyslexic is examined in the context…

Reviews research in which children's processing of individual words is examined in prose context. When taken together, the data suggest that the reader's dependence on contextual constraint for individual word identification decreases with age. (HOD)