Vowels and consonants as targets in the search of single words

Abstract

Ss searched four- and six-letter words typed in uppercase for predesignated target letters, Reaction times to vowel targets were faster than to consonant targets for both stimulus lengths; this was true whether or not the target was contained in the stimulus word. The results are interpreted to indicate that an early stage in word perception is the location of vowels, as proposed by Hansen and Rogers, 1968.