Effects of form familiarity on perception of words, pseudowords, and nonwords in the two cerebral hemispheres

A Further Look at Perception of Personalities in Typefaces: Evidence From Turkish

Previous research conducted in English indicates that the visual appearances of different typefaces are perceived as possessing distinct characteristics, what we call "print personality" (e.g., masculine, feminine, serious, fun) to the extent that the typeface used conveys information to the reader beyond that which is expressed linguistically by the word. Recent work has found that these attributions of "print personality" also extend to typefaces written in Arabic, but one language that is distinct from both languages is Turkish. Turkish is written in a version of the Latinate alphabet containing 29 letters which include unique diacritics and is a genderless language which requires no gender associations for nouns, pronouns, or adjectives. Given that many print personalities appear to be strongly associated with gender (masculine, feminine, elegance, confidence), it remains to be determined if the association of print personalities extends to Turkish typefaces, and the pattern of any such associations. Accordingly, sixteen different typefaces were presented to fluent native Turkish readers who rated each typeface according to 22 different personality characteristics. The results indicate that, although Turkish participants readily assigned personality characteristics to different typefaces, gendered associations across different typefaces were far weaker than previously found. Implications for the generality of the existence of typeface personalities across different languages, and the effect this may have on perception of genderless languages, are discussed.

The Reicher-Wheeler paradigm in word recognition research: a cautionary note on its actual contributions and published misconceptions

The study of word recognition has been influenced greatly by findings obtained when visual stimuli are presented very briefly. Under these conditions, a great deal of evidence suggests that words are perceived better than nonwords, and even single letters, and it is generally accepted that these "word superiority effects" reflect the relative efficiency with which words are perceived. For more than 50 years, a key procedure for establishing these effects has been the Reicher-Wheeler Paradigm in which potentially confounding effects of non-perceptual guesswork are cleverly suppressed. More recently, however, the actual nature of the Reicher-Wheeler paradigm and its contribution to research have become misrepresented in a range of publications, and its use in experiments has been confused and conflated with other, less sophisticated procedures. In this article we describe the actual contributions made by the Reicher-Wheeler Paradigm to word recognition research and show examples of how these important contributions have been misunderstood and misconceived in experiments reported in the recent literature.

The last course of coarse coding: Hemispheric similarities in associative and categorical semantic processing

To test theories that posit differences in how semantic information is represented in the cerebral hemispheres, we assessed semantic priming for associatively and categorically related prime-target pairs that were graded in relatedness strength. Visual half-field presentation was used to bias processing to the right or left hemisphere, and event-related potential (ERP) and behavioral responses were measured while participants completed a semantic relatedness judgement task. Contrary to theories positing representational differences across the cerebral hemispheres, in two experiments using (1) centralized prime presentation and lateralized targets and (2) lateralized primes and targets, we found similar priming patterns across the two hemispheres at the level of semantic access (N400), on later measures of explicit processing (late positive complex; LPC), and in behavioral response speeds and accuracy. We argue that hemispheric differences, when they arise, are more likely due to differences in task demands than in how the hemispheres fundamentally represent semantic information.

Whole-object effects in visual word processing: Parallels with and differences from face recognition

Visual words and faces differ in their structural properties, but both are objects of high expertise. Holistic processing is said to characterize expert face recognition, but the extent to which whole-word processes contribute to word recognition is unclear, particularly as word recognition is thought to proceed by a component-based process. We review the evidence for experimental effects in word recognition that parallel those used to support holistic face processing, namely inversion effects, the part-whole task, and composite effects, as well as the status of whole-word processing in pure alexia and developmental dyslexia, contrasts between familiar and unfamiliar languages, and the differences between handwriting and typeset font. The observations support some parallels in whole-object influences between face and visual word recognition, but do not necessarily imply similar expert mechanisms. It remains to be determined whether and how the relative balance between part-based and whole-object processing differs for visual words and faces.

Abnormal Regional Spontaneous Neural Activity in Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study

Objective

To explore altered regional neuronal activity in patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) and its correlation with clinical performances using the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method, which is based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Method

Thirty-one patients with NAION (20 males, 11 females) and 31 age- and sex-matched normal controls (NCs) (20 males, 11 females) were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent ophthalmic examination, including eyesight, intraocular pressure measurement, optimal coherence tomography (OCT), visual field analysis, and fMRI scans. After ReHo was calculated, we investigated group differences in results between the patients and NCs. We analyzed the relationship between ReHo values for different brain regions in patients with NAION and intraocular pressure, visual field analysis, and OCT. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the diagnostic ability of the ReHo method.

Results

Compared with NCs, patients with NAION exhibited higher ReHo values in the left middle frontal gyrus, left middle cingulate gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, and left inferior parietal lobule. Additionally, they exhibited lower ReHo values in the right lingual gyrus, left putamen/lentiform nucleus, and left superior parietal lobule. ReHo values in the left superior parietal lobule were negatively correlated with right retinal nerve fiber layer values (r = −0.462, P = 0.01). The area under the ROC curve for each brain region indicated that the ReHo method is a credible means of diagnosing patient with NAION.

Conclusion

NAION was primarily associated with dysfunction in the default mode network, which may reflect its underlying neural mechanisms.

What's in a Typeface? Evidence of the Existence of Print Personalities in Arabic

Previous research suggests that different typefaces can be perceived as having distinct personality characteristics (such as strength, elegance, friendliness, romance, and humor) and that these “print personalities” elicit information in the reader that is in addition to the meaning conveyed linguistically by words. However, research in this area has previously been conducted using only English stimuli and so it may be that typefaces in English, and other languages using the Latinate alphabet, lend themselves unusually well to eliciting perception of print personalities, and the phenomenon is not a language universal. But not all written languages are Latinate languages, and one language that is especially visually distinct is Arabic. In particular, apart from being read from right to left, Arabic is formed in a cursive script in which the visual appearance of letters contrasts strongly with those used for Latinate languages. In addition, spaces between letters seldom exist in Arabic and the visual appearance of even the same letters can vary considerably within the same typeface depending on their contextual location within a word. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to investigate whether, like English, different Arabic typefaces inspire the attribution of print personalities. Eleven different typefaces were presented in Arabic sentences to skilled readers of Arabic and participants rated each typeface according to 20 different personality characteristics. The results showed that each typeface produced a different pattern of ratings of personality characteristics and suggest that, like English, Arabic typefaces are perceived as having distinct print personalities. Some of the implications of these results for the processes involved in reading are discussed.

Seeing Inscriptions on the Shroud of Turin: The Role of Psychological Influences in the Perception of Writing

The Shroud of Turin (hereafter the Shroud) is one of the most widely known and widely studied artifacts in existence, with enormous historical and religious significance. For years, the Shroud has inspired worldwide interest in images on its fabric which appear to be of the body and face of a man executed in a manner consistent with crucifixion, and many believe that these images were formed in the Shroud's fibers during the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. But, more recently, other reports have suggested that the Shroud also contains evidence of inscriptions, and these reports have been used to add crucial support to the view that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus. Unfortunately, these reports of inscriptions are based on marks that are barely visible on the Shroud, even when images are enhanced, and the actual existence of writing on the Shroud is still a matter of considerable debate. Here we discuss previous evidence concerning the psychological processes involved generally in the perception of writing, and especially when letters and words are indistinct. We then report two experiments in which the influence of religious context on perception of inscriptions was addressed specifically, using an image of woven fabric (modern linen) containing no writing and with no religious provenance. This image was viewed in two different contexts: in the Religious Context, participants were informed that the image was of a linen artifact that was important to the Christian faith whereas, in the non-religious Neutral Context, participants were informed that the image was of a simple piece of linen. Both groups were told that the image may contain faint words and were asked to report any words they could see. All participants detected words on the image, and indicated that these words were visible and were able to trace on the image the words they detected. In each experiment, more religious words were detected in the Religious Context condition than in the Neutral Context condition whereas the two contexts showed no effect on the number of non-religious words detected, indicating that religious context had a specific effect on the perception of illusory writing. Indeed, in the Neutral Context condition, no religious words at all were reported in either experiment. These findings suggest that images of woven material, like linen, inspire illusory perceptions of writing and that the nature of these perceptions is influenced considerably by the religious expectations of observers. As a consequence, the normal psychological processes underlying perception of writing, and the tendency of these processes to produce illusory perceptions, should be an essential consideration when addressing the existence of religious inscriptions on religious artifacts such as the Shroud of Turin.

Hemispheric differences in orthographic and semantic processing as revealed by event-related potentials

Differences in how the right and left hemispheres (RH, LH) apprehend visual words were examined using event-related potentials (ERPs) in a repetition paradigm with visual half-field (VF) presentation. In both hemispheres (RH/LVF, LH/RVF), initial presentation of items elicited similar and typical effects of orthographic neighborhood size, with larger N400s for orthographically regular items (words and pseudowords) than for irregular items (acronyms and meaningless illegal strings). However, hemispheric differences emerged on repetition effects. When items were repeated in the LH/RVF, orthographically regular items, relative to irregular items, elicited larger repetition effects on both the N250, a component reflecting processing at the level of visual form (orthography), and on the N400, which has been linked to semantic access. In contrast, in the RH/LVF, repetition effects were biased toward irregular items on the N250 and were similar in size across item types for the N400. The results suggest that processing in the LH is more strongly affected by wordform regularity than in the RH, either due to enhanced processing of familiar orthographic patterns or due to the fact that regular forms can be more readily mapped onto phonology.

Evaluating effects of divided hemispheric processing on word recognition in foveal and extrafoveal displays: the evidence from Arabic

Background

Previous studies have claimed that a precise split at the vertical midline of each fovea causes all words to the left and right of fixation to project to the opposite, contralateral hemisphere, and this division in hemispheric processing has considerable consequences for foveal word recognition. However, research in this area is dominated by the use of stimuli from Latinate languages, which may induce specific effects on performance. Consequently, we report two experiments using stimuli from a fundamentally different, non-Latinate language (Arabic) that offers an alternative way of revealing effects of split-foveal processing, if they exist.

Methods and Findings

Words (and pseudowords) were presented to the left or right of fixation, either close to fixation and entirely within foveal vision, or further from fixation and entirely within extrafoveal vision. Fixation location and stimulus presentations were carefully controlled using an eye-tracker linked to a fixation-contingent display. To assess word recognition, Experiment 1 used the Reicher-Wheeler task and Experiment 2 used the lexical decision task.

Results

Performance in both experiments indicated a functional division in hemispheric processing for words in extrafoveal locations (in recognition accuracy in Experiment 1 and in reaction times and error rates in Experiment 2) but no such division for words in foveal locations.

Conclusions

These findings from a non-Latinate language provide new evidence that although a functional division in hemispheric processing exists for word recognition outside the fovea, this division does not extend up to the point of fixation. Some implications for word recognition and reading are discussed.

Reevaluating split-fovea processing in word recognition: hemispheric dominance, retinal location, and the word-nonword effect

Many studies have claimed that hemispheric projections are split precisely at the foveal midline and so hemispheric asymmetry affects word recognition right up to the point of fixation. To investigate this claim, four-letter words and nonwords were presented to the left or right of fixation, either close to fixation in foveal vision or farther from fixation in extrafoveal vision. Presentation accuracy was controlled using an eyetracker linked to a fixation-contingent display. Words presented foveally produced identical performance on each side of fixation, but words presented extrafoveally showed a clear left-hemisphere (LH) advantage. Nonwords produced no evidence of hemispheric asymmetry in any location. Foveal stimuli also produced an identical word-nonword effect on each side of fixation, whereas extrafoveal stimuli produced a word-nonword effect only for LH (not right-hemisphere) displays. These findings indicate that functional unilateral projections to contralateral hemispheres exist in extrafoveal locations but provide no evidence of a functional division in hemispheric processing at fixation.

Early involvement of dorsal and ventral pathways in visual word recognition: an ERP study

Visual expertise underlying reading is attributed to processes involving the left ventral visual pathway. However, converging evidence suggests that the dorsal visual pathway is also involved in early levels of visual word processing, especially when words are presented in unfamiliar visual formats. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the time course of the early engagement of the ventral and dorsal pathways during processing of orthographic stimuli (high and low frequency words, pseudowords and consonant strings) by manipulating visual format (familiar horizontal vs. unfamiliar vertical format). While early ERP components (P1 and N1) already distinguished between formats, the effect of stimulus type emerged at the latency of the N2 component (225-275 ms). The N2 scalp topography and sLORETA source localisation for this differentiation showed an occipito-temporal negativity for the horizontal format and a negativity that extended towards the dorsal regions for the vertical format. In a later time window (350-425 ms) ERPs elicited by vertically displayed stimuli distinguished words from pseudowords in the ventral area, as confirmed by source localisation. The sustained contribution of occipito-temporal processes for vertical stimuli suggests that the ventral pathway is essential for lexical access. Parietal regions appear to be involved when a serial mechanism of visual attention is required to shift attention from one letter to another. The two pathways cooperate during visual word recognition and processing in these pathways should not be considered as alternative but as complementary elements of reading.

On the functional neuroanatomy of visual word processing: effects of case and letter deviance

This functional magnetic resonance imaging study contrasted case-deviant and letter-deviant forms with familiar forms of the same phonological words (e.g., TaXi and Taksi vs Taxi) and found that both types of deviance led to increased activation in a left occipito-temporal regions, corresponding to the visual word form area (VWFA). The sensitivity of the VWFA to both types of deviance may suggest that this region represents well-known visual words not only as sequences of abstract letter identities but also includes information on the typical case-format pattern of visual words. Case-deviant items, in addition to increased activation in a right occipito-temporal region and in a left occipital and a left posterior occipito-temporal region, which may reflect increased demands on the letter processing posed by the case-deviant forms.

Abstraction and perceptual individuation in primed word identification are modulated by distortion and repetition: a dissociation

One experiment investigated the effects of distortion and multiple prime repetition (super-repetition) on repetition priming using divided-visual-field word identification at test and mixed-case words (e.g., goAT). The experiment measured form-specificity (the effect of matching lettercase at study and test) for two non-conceptual study tasks. For an ideal typeface, super-repetition increased form-independent priming leaving form-specificity constant. The opposite pattern was found for a distorted typeface; super-repetition increased form-specificity, leaving form-independent priming constant. These priming effects did not depend on the study task or test hemifield for either typeface. An additional finding was that only the ideal typeface showed the usual advantage of right hemifield presentation. These results demonstrate that super-repetition produced abstraction for the ideal typeface and perceptual individuation for the distorted typeface; abstraction and perceptual individuation dissociated. We suggest that there is a fundamental duality between perceptual individuation and abstraction consistent with Tulving's (1984) distinction between episodic and semantic memory. This could reflect a duality of system or process.

Assessing the role of different spatial frequencies in word perception by good and poor readers

Numerous studies indicate that dyslexic and nondyslexic individuals exhibit different patterns of sensitivity to spatial frequency. However, the extension of this effect to normal (nondyslexic) adults of good and poor reading abilities and the role played by different spatial frequencies in word perception have yet to be determined. In this study, using normal (nondyslexic) adults, we assessed reading ability, spatial frequency sensitivity, and perception of spatially filtered words and nonwords (using a two-alternative forced choice paradigm to avoid artifactual influences of nonperceptual guesswork). Good and poor readers showed different patterns of spatial frequency sensitivity. However, no differences in accuracy of word and nonword perception were found between good and poor readers, despite their differences in spatial frequency sensitivity. Indeed, both reading abilities showed the same superior perceptibility for spatially filtered words over nonwords across different spatial frequency bands. These findings indicate that spatial frequency sensitivity differences extend to normal (nondyslexic) adult readers and that a range of spatial frequencies can be used for word perception by good and poor readers. However, spatial frequency sensitivity may not accurately reveal an individual's ability to perceive words.

What do lateralized displays tell us about visual word perception? A cautionary indication from the word-letter effect

A common assumption underlying laterality research is that visual field asymmetries in lateralized word perception indicate the hemispheric specialisation of processes generally available for the perception of words, including words viewed in a more typical setting (i.e. in the central visual field). We tested the validity of this assumption using a phenomenon (the word-letter effect) frequently reported for displays viewed in the central visual field, where letters in words are perceived more accurately than the same letters in isolation. Words and isolated letters were presented in the left visual field (LVF), right visual field (RVF) and central visual field (CVF), the Reicher-Wheeler task was used to suppress influences of guesswork, and an eye-tracker ensured central fixation. In line with previous findings, lateralized displays revealed a RVF-LVF advantage for words (but not isolated letters) and CVF displays revealed an advantage for words over isolated letters (the word-letter effect). However, RVF and LVF displays both produced an advantage for isolated letters over words (a letter-word effect), indicating that processing subserving the advantage for words when participants viewed stimuli in the central visual field was unavailable for lateralized displays. Implications of these findings for studies of lateralized word perception are discussed.

Perceptual interactions between bilaterally presented words: what you get is often not what you see

Bilateral presentations of words, 1 in the left visual hemifield (LVF) and 1 in the right (RVF), are used widely in studies of hemispheric asymmetry. However, although words shown centrally (i.e., nonlaterally) produce perceptual interactions in which 1 word alters the perceived identity of the other, perceptual interactions between bilaterally presented words have never been reported. To investigate this issue, the authors used brief, bilateral displays of words (e.g., romp-ramp) presented simultaneously. An eye tracker and forced-choice task ensured appropriate presentation and testing. Report accuracy was greatest for RVF words. However, this was accompanied by perceptual interactions that occurred almost exclusively in responses to LVF words, indicating that RVF words often altered the perceived identity of LVF words but not vice versa.

Assessing effects of stimulus orientation on perception of lateralized words and nonwords

Numerous studies of the processes of visual word recognition in the left and right cerebral hemispheres have attempted to control for confounding differences in the retinal placement (and hence visual acuity) of the beginnings of words by re-orientating normally-horizontal words vertically. However, despite the popularity of this approach, little is known about the precise effects that vertically orientating normally-horizontal words exert on hemispheric processes of word recognition. In this study, we investigated perception of horizontal and vertical English words and nonwords in the left visual field (LVF) and right visual field (RVF). An eye-tracking device ensured central fixation and a 2AFC paradigm (Reicher-Wheeler task) suppressed influences of non-perceptual bias. Horizontal stimuli produced a strong right visual field advantage for words but not for nonwords, whereas, vertical stimuli produced no hemifield differences at all. Moreover, vertical stimuli produced an advantage for words over nonwords in both visual fields whereas horizontal stimuli produced this effect only in the right visual field. Implications of these findings for the sensitivity of processes of word perception to stimulus orientation in the two cerebral hemispheres are discussed.