Written word and spatial experience

Spatial attention in written word perception

The role of attention in visual word recognition and reading aloud is a long debated issue. Studies of both developmental and acquired reading disorders provide growing evidence that spatial attention is critically involved in word reading, in particular for the phonological decoding of unfamiliar letter strings. However, studies on healthy participants have produced contrasting results. The ai...

When does word frequency influence written production?

The aim of the present study was to explore the central (e.g., lexical processing) and peripheral processes (motor preparation and execution) underlying word production during typewriting. To do so, we tested non-professional typers in a picture typing task while continuously recording EEG. Participants were instructed to write (by means of a standard keyboard) the corresponding name for a give...

Cascaded processing in written compound word production

In this study we investigated the intricate interplay between central linguistic processing and peripheral motor processes during typewriting. Participants had to typewrite two-constituent (noun-noun) Finnish compounds in response to picture presentation while their typing behavior was registered. As dependent measures we used writing onset time to assess what processes were completed before wr...

The power of the written word.

Subsyllabic Units in Written Word Production

In previous studies we have found that the writing of words (typing) is made up of a highly structured time course. Words are written using a course of accelerations and decelerations at certain points within the words. These points correlate highly with the syllabic word structure and also with the morphological structure. At the beginning of these subword units we find significantly higher la...