Abstract
A series of experiments by Gibson found that children, in learning to read, come to extract English spelling patterns and that these patterns function as units in word perception. The present study attempted to replicate these results using a simultaneous discrimination task rather than a tachistoscopic recognition task. It was found that by third grade, children are able to use English spelling patterns to discriminate between nonsense words. This ability was not dependent on word length and was absent in first-grade children. Ss’ verbal responses indicated that they had used orthographic patterns or its corollary, pronunciability, to distinguish between alternates.
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References
GIBSON, E. J., OSSER, H., & PICK, A. D. A study in the development of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 1963, 2, 142–146.
GIBSON, E. J., PICK, A., OSSER, H., & HAMMOND, M. The role of grapheme-phoneme correspondence in the perception of words. American Journal of Psychology, 1962, 75, 554–570.
GIBSON, E. J., SHURCLIFF, A., & YONAS, A. Utilization of spelling patterns by deaf and hearing subjects. In H. Levin and J. P. Williams (Eds.), Basic studies on reading. New York: Basic Books, 1970.
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Rosinski, R.R., Wheeler, K.E. Children’s use of orthographic structure in word discrimination. Psychon Sci 26, 97–98 (1972). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335445
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335445