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Is it misspelled or is it mispelled? The influence of fresh orthographic information on spelling

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Abstract

The effect of exposure to incorrectly and correctly spelled words on subsequent spelling performance was examined as a function of spelling proficiency and of time lapse between exposure and test. Spelling accuracy was found to be respectively depressed and enhanced by such exposure, relative to performance on unexposed control words. The effect was persistent and pervasive, obtaining at both immediate and one-week delayed testing and in both good and poor spellers. The findings indicate that fresh orthographic information exerts an influence on pre-existing abstract orthographic representations, rather than establishing new episodic traces, and that this process takes place implicitly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, City University, London, UK

    Maureen Dixon & Zofia Kaminska

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  1. Maureen Dixon
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  2. Zofia Kaminska
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Dixon, M., Kaminska, Z. Is it misspelled or is it mispelled? The influence of fresh orthographic information on spelling. Reading and Writing 9, 483–498 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007955314533

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