Journal article
Visual word recognition is impeded by adjacent words
Journal of memory and language, Vol.143, p.104641
08/2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2025.104641
Abstract
•We introduce the visual world paradigm with flanked masked 75-ms visual word targets.•We measure the effect of different kinds of flankers on lexical activation.•Adjacent words interfere with lexical activation of the fixated word.•Flankers that afford more levels of processing interfere more with the target.•Higher frequency targets are more susceptible to interference.•Fixated word frequency modulates attention breadth inviting interference.•Previewing a word during reading comes at the cost of interference.•Skilled reading requires balancing efficiency-boosting preview against interference.
We report two experiments demonstrating that visual word recognition is impeded by the presence of nearby stimuli, especially adjacent words. Reading research has converged on a consensus that skilled readers control their attention to make use of information from adjacent (primarily upcoming) words, increasing reading efficiency. Other lines of research seem to point to potential interference from nearby items, yet this has not been investigated at the critical lexical level. To specifically target lexical activation, here we employ a novel variant of the visual world paradigm with masked (75 ms) flanked visual word targets, contrasting five flanker conditions across two experiments, namely none, repeated symbols, unknown font strings, pseudowords, and words. Analysis of multiple observed variables from 60 and 58 adult Norwegian speakers showed strong interference—compared to no flankers—for all flanker conditions except the repeated symbols. Interference increased with additional levels of possible flanker processing, and was greatest for higher-frequency word targets, consistent with rapid dynamic modulation of attentional breadth. Our findings demonstrate that nearby words interfere with lexical activation of the fixated word and call for a more nuanced approach to the role of preview in fluent reading. We conclude that skilled reading involves a constant complex interplay between the drive toward efficiency, which requires a broad attentional field, and the need to shield processing from interference, which limits attentional breadth.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Visual word recognition is impeded by adjacent words
- Creators
- Laoura Ziaka - University of OsloDzan Zelihic - University of OsloBob McMurray - University of IowaKeith Baxelbaum - University of IowaKristin Simonsen - University of OsloAthanassios Protopapas - University of Oslo
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of memory and language, Vol.143, p.104641
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jml.2025.104641
- ISSN
- 0749-596X
- eISSN
- 1096-0821
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- Grant note
- Research Council of Norway, FINNUT: 301519 Research Council of Norway: 331640
All materials, data, processing and analysis scripts, full output, and supplementary material are available at https://osf.io/7vsme/. Preliminary partial analyses targeting specific aspects of these data have been presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. We thank Caroline Svendsen Nordli for her contribution to data collection and SR Research support specialist William Brixius for help with the experiment scripts. This work is partially supported by The Research Council of Norway, FINNUT Grant 301519. In addition, Athanassios Protopapas is partially supported by The Research Council of Norway, Centres of Excellence Grant 331640. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Athanassios Protopapas, e-mail: athanasios.protopapas@isp.uio.no.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/2025
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders; Linguistics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Otolaryngology
- Record Identifier
- 9984813159702771
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