Secondary task performance was used to evaluate the attentional demands of encoding the first letter in a sequential letter-match task. Unlike earlier studies, comparing secondary task performance between two primary task conditions indicated that letter encoding involves attention. Performance during the intertrial interval varied with subjects'…

Using a combination of letter-detection and proofreading techniques, subjects searching for target letters in printed text made more errors on correctly spelled words than misspelled words. This word inferiority effect contrasts with the superior perception of letters in words over nonwords commonly found in tachistoscopic studies. (Author/CM)

In three experiments, this study addressed two basic questions about the detection of multiletter patterns: (1) How is the detection of a multiletter pattern related to the detection of its individual components? (2) How is the detection of a sequence of letters influenced by the observer's familiarity with that sequence? (Author/BW)

In three experiments, subjects read passages and circled misspelling in them. Results support the unitization hypothesis that common words are normally read in units larger than letters but are read in letter units when misspelled. (Author/CP)

In two experiments, a probe technique required subjects to respond when the digit 7 appeared in one of five-letter positions in words or nonwords, inserted at the onset and 500 msec after letter and word processing. The focus of attention given to a letter has a smaller spatial extent. (Author/CM)

In four experiments, college students were presented with lists of either Armenian or English letters on a tachistoscope. The data indicate that extensive practice may be a necessary condition for capacity-free processing but may not be a necessary condition for involuntary processing. (Author/RD)

Reaction time and accuracy do not always reflect the same perceptual processes; therefore, the convergence of reaction time with accuracy within the context of a specific information processing model should be demonstrated empirically rather than assumed a priori. (Author/PN)

Effects of target-noise similarity on the ability to discriminate between two target letters were investigated. Performance was low when the noise letter shared the same name as the target. Thus, interletter interference effects cannot be explained in terms of inhibition between visual features. A "cognitive masking" hypothesis is proposed.…

Letter encoding is typically viewed as an automatic process that is both obligatory and interference free. In these experiments, either familiar or non-familiar primes produced significant amounts of interference even when subjects were trying to ignore the visual input. Early perceptual components of encoding are both obligatory and resource…

Two experiments using varying duration exposures related reading skill in adults to initial encoding of location information. Results suggest that the role of perception in reading has been underestimated because emphasis has been on item perception, not perception of spatial location. (Author/CP)

Familiar letter sequences in noncued portions of a tachistoscopic display were shown to reduce accuracy of partial report. Findings suggest that familiarity may automatically direct attentional resources to a particular spatial region. Such attentional capture may be disruptive if the material is presented at another location. (Author/RD)

High frequency words typed in normal and alternating case were presented tachistoscopically in the fovea and parafovea to children and adults. Dependent measures were percentages of letters and words correct. Few differences between age groups were found. Serial position curves also showed similarities across grades in the parafoveal information…

Three experiments report additional evidence that it is a mistake to account for all interletter effects solely in terms of sensory variables. These experiments attest to the importance of structural variables such as retina location, array size, and ordinal position. (Author/PN)

Orthographic context and visual letter information were independently varied in a letter recognition task. The results contradicted the qualitative predictions of nonindependence theories of reading and are accurately described by a quantification of independence theory. (Author/CP)

Schuberth and Eimas (EJ 159 939) reported that context and frequency effects added to determine reaction times in a lexical decision (word v nonword) task. The present reexamination shows that context and frequency do interact, with semantic context facilitating the processing of low-frequency words more than high-frequency words. (Author/CP)