Abstract
The question of whether or not lexical information is accessed directly from a visual code or by a process of phonetic mediation was investigated in three lexical decision experiments. Phonetic similarity influenced decisions about visually presented words only when they were to be discriminated from orthographically regular nonwords. When consonant strings or random letter strings were used as nonwords, phonetic similarity effects were absent, and graphemic similarity exerted a powerful effect while evidence of semantic priming was found. This pattern was interpreted as evidence of direct lexical access, which is probably the normal processing mode for skilled readers. Phonetic coding, when it occurs, may be a storage strategy rather than a part of the addressing chain for lexical structures.
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This research was supported by NSF Grant BMS75-03867 to the first author. Reprint requests may be sent to Harvey G. Shulman, Human Performance Center, 404-B West 17th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210.
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Shulman, H.G., Hornak, R. & Sanders, E. The effects of graphemic, phonetic, and semantic relationships on access to lexical structures. Memory & Cognition 6, 115–123 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197436
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197436