Watching the Word Go by: On the Time‐course of Component Processes in Visual Word Recognition

Abstract

Abstract We describe a functional architecture for word recognition that focuses on how orthographic and phonological information cooperates in initial form‐based processing of printed word stimuli prior to accessing semantic information. Component processes of orthographic processing and orthography‐to‐phonology translation are described, and the behavioral evidence in favor of such mechanisms is briefly summarized. Our theoretical framework is then used to interpret the results of a large number of recent experiments that have combined the masked priming paradigm with electrophysiological recordings. These experiments revealed a series of components in the event‐related potential (ERP), thought to reflect the cascade of underlying processes involved in the transition from visual feature extraction to semantic activation. We provide a tentative mapping of ERP components onto component processes in the model, hence specifying the relative time‐course of these processes and their functional significance.