Orthographic Influences When Processing Spoken Pseudowords: Theoretical Implications

Marcus Taft

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00140

Abstract

When we hear an utterance, is the orthographic representation of that utterance activated when it is being processed? Orthographic influences have been previously examined in relation to spoken pseudoword processing in three different paradigms. Unlike real word processing, no orthographic effects with pseudowords have been observed in a phoneme goodness ratings task, and there is a mixed outcome in studies looking for spelling–sound consistency effects. In contrast, the orthography of spoken pseudohomographs has been shown to be activated, given that they prime their homographic base word. Explanations are sought for the findings in these three paradigms, leading to an exploration of theoretical models of spoken word recognition.

Highlights

When we hear an utterance, is the orthographic representation of that utterance activated when it is being processed? Orthographic influences have been previously examined in relation to spoken pseudoword processing in three different paradigms
The focus of the analysis given here of orthographic effects in spoken word recognition has been the impact on pseudowords
Questions are raised about the validity of the findings in relation to the rime consistency effect with pseudowords (e.g., Ziegler and Ferrand, 1998; Ventura et al, 2004; Pattamadilok et al, 2007, 2009), but ways in which the presence or absence of such an effect might be handled are explored

Summary

Marcus Taft*

Reviewed by: Ronald Peereman, CNRS and Université Pierre Mendès France, France Juan Segui, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France. If orthography were automatically activated, one might expect its influence to be observed whatever the type of utterance being processed, whether it be a real word or a pseudoword. Even if orthography were not automatically activated, it would be expected that failure to access a lexical representation on the basis of purely phonological information would provide the likely circumstances under which orthography might come into play, and this means that any orthographic effect would be most likely observed when the utterance is a non-existing word. The purpose of the present paper, is to explore the circumstances under which effects are or are not observed with pseudowords and examine how this might contribute to the theoretical account of orthographic involvement in spoken word recognition

Experimental findings

Orthography in spoken pseudoword processing

Conclusion