Orthographic Processing Research Articles

Individual differences in subcomponents of the N400: Comprehension ability predicts contextual support effects while spelling ability predicts orthographic anomaly effects.

The N400 ERP component has been characterized as a response reflecting binding of semantic memory states to create a "multimodal conceptual representation" (Kutas & Federmeier, 2011). An assumption of this characterization is that the measured response itself reflects the synchronization of various neural processes required for language comprehension. Less is known, however, about how these processes vary across individuals and how specific language skills may modulate particular underlying subcomponents of the N400. In the current study, we measured the N400 response to words that were (1) unexpected (i.e., low cloze in low constraint) or (2) orthographically related (OR) anomalies compared with expected words (i.e., high cloze in high constraint), and we investigated how these effects were related to participants' reading comprehension ability, vocabulary, and spelling ability. We found that contextual support N400 effects were larger for individuals with superior reading comprehension skills, whereas OR anomaly N400 effects were larger for individuals with superior spelling ability. These findings support the characterization of the N400 as a composite of various comprehension-related neural processes. The current study demonstrates that individual differentiation in the strength of these skills is differentially associated with the N400 subcomponents related to contextual facilitation and orthographic processing. Reading comprehension ability is associated with stronger contextual support effects, which may reflect more effective use of contextual support in facilitating semantic retrieval. Spelling skill is more strongly associated with OR anomaly effects (in contexts supporting an orthographic neighbor of the presented anomalous word), which may reflect more precise word identification.

Development of auditory word processing in different task settings: a neurophysiological study on orthographic processes in reading and spelling

Development of auditory word processing in different task settings: a neurophysiological study on orthographic processes in reading and spelling

Transposed- and substituted-character effects in written word recognition by Chinese prelingually deaf adults: Evidence from mouse-tracking technology.

Efficient written word recognition is crucial for effective reading and comprehension. However, whether deaf people recognize written words through the same psychological mechanisms as those of hearing individuals remains controversial. The present study utilized mouse-tracking technology to examine the differences in the transposed-character effect and the substituted-character effect during the recognition of four-character Chinese words between prelingually deaf adults (PDAs) and their hearing counterparts. The PDAs were found to experience greater difficulties in recognizing Chinese written pseudowords although both groups exhibited significant transposed-character effects with lower accuracies, longer response times, and larger areas under the curve in transposed-character pseudoword conditions. Furthermore, the PDAs demonstrated more pronounced substituted-character effects in the substituted-character pseudoword conditions compared with hearing people. These results revealed that Chinese written word recognition of the hearing participants followed the multiple-route model derived from alphabetic languages, while PDAs tend to rely more on whole-word and orthographic processing due to their limited access to phonological information. This study can provide theoretical guidance and potential targeted intervention measures for enhancing the reading abilities of deaf individuals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The contribution of orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and phonological working memory to the reading skills of typically developing children

The present study examined the effects of orthographic knowledge (OK), phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), and phonological working memory (PWM) on the reading speed, accuracy, and comprehension of elementary school students. Results from a sample of 176 typically developing children in the second through fourth grades (mean age = 8.9 years) revealed that the correlation between reading and the other variables (PWM, PA, RAN, and OK) was significant. In Persian, which has an abjad writing system and opaque orthography, OK and RAN were the best predictors of reading. The relationship between reading skills and other factors was most evident in the fourth grade. We also found that female students in the fourth grade performed significantly better than male students on reading, RAN and OK. This study highlights of the fact that rapid naming and orthographic processing are more important than phonological processing for predicting reading skills in Persian.

Cross-Language Morphological Analysis Improves Academic Word Learning for Multilingual Adolescents

ABSTRACT Purpose Converging evidence demonstrates that robust academic vocabulary and morphology instruction improves literacy outcomes of multilingual adolescents. However, few interventions have focused on teaching word analysis using bound Latin roots, the major meaning-carrying constituents of academic words (e.g. voc meaning “speak” in advocate). Moreover, how students leverage a home language (L1; e.g. voz = “voice” in Spanish) to analyze academic words and develop robust representations has been understudied. This contribution to the special issue on the science of teaching reading presents results from an intervention focused on high-impact, general academic words, cross-linguistic connections, and inferring unfamiliar word meanings through morphological analysis. Method We evaluated a 16-week intervention, employing a quasi-experimental design with 192 multilingual middle schoolers (mean grade = 7.7; 63.02% Latino, 20.83% Asian/Pacific Islander, 8.86% Black, and 7.29% unknown). Adjusting for clustering of students (n = 100 intervention) within classrooms, we estimated treatment effects on root meanings, word meanings, orthographic processing, multidimensional vocabulary knowledge, morphological analysis, and reading comprehension. We examined interactions by L1 (Spanish or other) for each outcome. Results Significant and practically meaningful main treatment effects were found for five of six outcomes (d = 0.98 to d = 0.32), except reading comprehension where effects were positive but small. Interactions showed small advantages for Spanish L1 adolescents for root meanings, word meanings, and multidimensional vocabulary knowledge. Conclusion Our findings contribute evidence to the science of teaching reading, demonstrating how emphasis on cross-language analysis of morphological relationships and Latin roots supports flexible and generative vocabulary learning for multilingual adolescents.

Orthographic-phonological mapping impairments in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia: insights from an ERP investigation.

In the realm of logographic writing systems, such as Chinese characters, orthographic transparency fundamentally differs from alphabetic languages, posing unique challenges for individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD). This study employed event-related potentials (ERPs) and a masked priming paradigm to investigate how Chinese children with DD compared to typically developing (TD) children in their utilization of orthographic-phonological mapping rules during the processing of pseudocharacters. The findings revealed noteworthy distinctions between TD and DD children. TD children exhibited a robust priming effect in radical priming, characterized by an enhanced N170 (100-200ms) amplitude and a reduced P200 (200-350ms) amplitude, whereas DD children did not display this differentiation. This observation parallels the difficulties faced by DD children in alphabetic languages. Furthermore, the study found a significant positive correlation between the N170 amplitude in the left posterior brain region of Chinese DD children and their orthographic performance: DD children with poorer orthographic awareness exhibited larger N170 amplitudes in this region. The present study sheds light on the challenges Chinese DD children encounter in processing regular sub-character routes, particularly evident in the early stages of orthographic processing. The orthographic deficits of DD children hinder their processing of Chinese orthography, resulting in increased cognitive demands.

Exploring the role of visual similarity in parafoveal processing: Insights from the Flanking Letter Lexical Decision task.

This study explores the impact of visually similar flanking stimuli on central target words using the Flanking Letter Lexical Decision (FLLD) task. Specifically, we investigated whether visual similarity effects can explain orthographic relatedness effects observed in previous FLLD tasks. By employing non-reversal mirror letters as visual flankers, we compared their influence on response times to traditional orthographic-related and orthographic-unrelated conditions. Results confirmed the known facilitative effect of orthographic-related flankers on response times (ROCK ROCK ROCK). However, mirror-related conditions showed no facilitative effect ([Formula: see text] ROCK [Formula: see text]), as evidenced by a Bayesian analysis indicating no significant differences between mirror-related and mirror-unrelated ([Formula: see text] ROCK [Formula: see text]). These findings suggest that low-level visual information in the parafovea does not contribute to the processing of the foveal word in tasks requiring specific word identification. The study concludes that only parafoveal information with relevant linguistic content is spatially pooled across target and flankers during word identification tasks. This research highlights the need to consider task-specific attentional demands and the linguistic relevance of parafoveal information in understanding visual and orthographic processing in reading.

Development and Initial Validation of the Computer-Based Orthographic Processing Assessment Short Form: An Application of Cognitive Diagnostic Modeling

A short form of the 60-item computer-based orthographic processing assessment (long-form COPA or COPA-LF) was developed. The COPA-LF consists of five skills, including rapid perception, access, differentiation, correction, and arrangement. Thirty items from the COPA-LF were selected for the short-form COPA (COPA-SF) based on cognitive diagnostic modeling (CDM) analyses. Both parametric and nonparametric CDM and correlational analyses were conducted with the responses of 74 U.S. second-grade students on the COPA-SF. Results supported five skills of orthographic processing represented on the COPA-SF. Concurrent and convergent validity evidence was found for the COPA-SF. Overall, the findings suggest that the COPA-SF is a time-efficient, reliable, multidimensional measure of orthographic processing.

Orthographic knowledge as a predictor of reading and spelling in isiXhosa third graders

Background: Research acknowledges the importance of phonological processing and orthographic processing for reading and spelling in both consistently and inconsistently written languages. While the focus has tended to be on the role of phonological processing in languages with consistent orthographies, the role of orthographic processing, specifically orthographic knowledge has yet to be as extensively explored.Aim: To address this gap, this article explores the unique contributions of phonological awareness (PA) and orthographic knowledge for reading and spelling in the consistently written language of isiXhosa. In addition, we investigate the multi-dimensional character of orthographic knowledge by establishing whether letter-sound knowledge is a sub-component of orthographic knowledge, alongside word-specific and general orthographic knowledge.Setting: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with 182 isiXhosa third graders.Methods: Participants completed word-specific and general orthographic knowledge tasks, which were specifically designed for the study, along with tasks of oral reading fluency, spelling accuracy, PA, rapid automatised naming and letter-sound knowledge.Results: Using confirmatory factor analyses along with regression analyses, the findings provide support for the multi-dimensional character of orthographic knowledge inclusive of word-specific orthographic knowledge, general orthographic knowledge and letter-sound knowledge. Further, it was revealed that for this sample of isiXhosa third graders, orthographic knowledge was more influential to reading and spelling performance over and above PA, providing evidence for the importance of orthographic skill for both reading and spelling in isiXhosa.Conclusion: The present study adds to a growing understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of orthographic knowledge and provides evidence for the importance of orthographic knowledge for reading and spelling in isiXhosa.Contribution: The findings support the need for phonics instruction that incorporates activities which build learners’ orthographic knowledge and other writing-related skills. Further, continuous exposure to books and reading will also strengthen learners’ orthographic knowledge.

Enhancing spelling skills in dyslexic primary students: A comparative study of remedial and compensatory interventions in chennai

Learning to spell poses significant challenges for young learners with dyslexia, who often encounter difficulties with phonological awareness and orthographic processing. This study explores the effectiveness of a structured, two-stage intervention aimed at enhancing spelling skills among 25 primary school students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, whose native language is Tamil. In the initial four-week phase, participants engaged in remedial activities focused on developing phonological and orthographic awareness, essential foundations for accurate spelling. This phase targeted the students’ ability to recognize sound patterns and understand letter-sound associations, providing a base for further learning. In the following sixteen-week phase, the intervention expanded to include compensatory strategies designed to reinforce initial learning and foster a more comprehensive understanding of spelling. This phase incorporated the multimodal learning, combining visual, auditory, and kinesthetic techniques, as well as task-oriented exercises, play-based activities, and gamified methods to make the learning process more engaging and enjoyable. These varied approaches aimed to enhance students’ spelling skills while maintaining their interest and motivation. The study’s findings demonstrated that both the remedial and compensatory interventions had a positive impact on students' spelling abilities. However, while the phonological and orthographic methods helped build essential skills, they required a longer duration to ensure retention beyond the intervention period. Conversely, the integrated, multimodal approach introduced in the second phase resulted in faster and more substantial improvements. This outcome highlights the benefits of a dynamic, interactive approach in supporting dyslexic learners who are acquiring English as a second language, promoting both skill acquisition and engagement.

Are the early stages of orthographic processing universal? Insights from masked priming with Semitic words

Are the early stages of orthographic processing universal? Insights from masked priming with Semitic words

Is Chinese Dyslexia Similar Across Chinese Societies? Evidence from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Taipei

AbstractWhile previous research has documented the unique aspects of Chinese dyslexia as compared to dyslexia in alphabetic scripts, it remains unclear whether the difference in Chinese literacy experiences influences the manifestation of Chinese dyslexia. The present article first reviews the characteristics of Chinese languages and scripts, including important cognitive‐linguistic correlates (rapid automatized naming, phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness) of Chinese reading development and impairment. The diversity in Chinese literacy experiences of scripts, languages, and instructional practices, and consequently their impact on Chinese literacy acquisition across different Chinese societies are also reviewed. Using an equivalent Chinese assessment battery administered to 91 children with dyslexia from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Taipei, we examined the subtypes of Chinese dyslexia across these three societies concurrently. With the four cognitive‐linguistic skills included as the clustering variable, the hierarchical cluster analysis revealed four cognitive subtypes of dyslexia: 38% mild orthographic deficit subtype (OD), 33% phonological deficit subtype (PD), 18% morphological deficit subtype (MD), and 11% global deficit subtype (GD)—each with their own set of cognitive‐linguistic deficit profiles. Interestingly, all four subtypes of dyslexia manifested poorer orthographic skills as compared to the control group. Bayesian Analysis of Contingency Table further showed that the distribution of dyslexia subtypes remains similar across the three Chinese societies, suggesting invariance of the Chinese dyslexia construct. Findings highlight the importance of assessment in orthographic processing, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness in order to understand Chinese dyslexia, both in a within and cross‐cultural Chinese perspective.

Functional MRI Assessment of Brain Activity Patterns Associated with Reading in Medulloblastoma Survivors.

Medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor primarily affecting children, poses significant challenges to patients and clinicians due to its complex treatment and potential long-term cognitive consequences. While recent advancements in treatment have significantly improved survival rates, survivors often face cognitive impairments, particularly in reading, impacting their quality of life. According to the double deficit theory, reading impairments are caused by deficits in one or both of two independent reading-related functions: phonological awareness and rapid visual naming. This longitudinal study investigates neurofunctional changes related to reading in medulloblastoma survivors in comparison to controls using functional MRI acquired during rapid automatized naming tasks over three annual visits. Support vector machine classification of functional MRI data reveals a progressive divergence in brain activity patterns between medulloblastoma survivors and healthy controls over time, suggesting delayed effects of cancer treatment on brain function. Alterations in brain regions involved in visual processing and orthographic recognition during rapid naming tasks imply disruptions in the ventral visual pathway associated with normal orthographic processing. These alterations are correlated with performance in tasks involving sound awareness, reading fluency, and word attack. These findings underscore the dynamic nature of post-treatment neurofunctional alterations and the importance of early identification and intervention to address cognitive deficits in survivors.

Functional interactions underlying visuospatial orthographic processes in Chinese reading.

As a logographic writing system, Chinese reading involves the processing of visuospatial orthographic (ORT) properties. However, this aspect has received relatively less attention in neuroimaging research, which has tended to emphasize phonological (PHO) and semantic (SEM) aspects in processing Chinese characters. Here, we compared the functional correlates supporting all these three processes in a functional MRI single-character reading study, in which 35 native Chinese adults were asked to make ORT, PHO, and SEM judgments in separate task-specific activation blocks. Our findings revealed increased involvement of the right hemisphere in processing Chinese visuospatial orthography, particularly evident in the right ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOTC). Additionally, time course analysis revealed that the left superior parietal gyrus (SPG) was initially involved in SEM processing but contributed to the visuospatial processing of words in a later time window. Finally, ORT processing demonstrated stronger recruitment of left vOTC-SPG-middle frontal gyrus (MFG) functional connectivity compared to SEM processing. This functional coupling correlated with reduced regional engagement of the left vOTC and MFG, highlighting that visuospatial ORT processes in reading Chinese rely on functional interactions among key regions rather than local regional processes. In conclusion, these findings underscore visuospatial ORT processes as a distinctive feature of reading logographic characters.

Understanding the Role of Eye Movement Pattern and Consistency in Isolated English Word Reading Through Hidden Markov Modeling.

In isolated English word reading, readers have the optimal performance when their initial eye fixation is directed to the area between the beginning and word center, that is, the optimal viewing position (OVP). Thus, how well readers voluntarily direct eye gaze to this OVP during isolated word reading may be associated with reading performance. Using Eye Movement analysis with Hidden Markov Models, we discovered two representative eye movement patterns during lexical decisions through clustering, which focused at the OVP and the word center, respectively. Higher eye movement similarity to the OVP-focusing pattern predicted faster lexical decision time in addition to cognitive abilities and lexical knowledge. However, the OVP-focusing pattern was associated with longer isolated single letter naming time, suggesting conflicting visual abilities required for identifying isolated letters and multi-letter words. In contrast, in both word and pseudoword naming, although clustering did not reveal an OVP-focused pattern, higher consistency of the first fixation as measured in entropy predicted faster naming time in addition to cognitive abilities and lexical knowledge. Thus, developing a consistent eye movement pattern focusing on the OVP is essential for word orthographic processing and reading fluency. This finding has important implications for interventions for reading difficulties.

The importance of sublexical structure in the orthographic representation of monosyllabic words

ABSTRACT Participants judged whether a letter-string created a word when a single letter was added to the end indicated by a hyphen. Unique final fragments were easier to reconstruct when corresponding to the body of a word, having no onset (e.g. laugh from –augh) than when the second consonant of a two-letter onset was also included (e.g. blind from –lind). Conversely, unique initial fragments were easier to reconstruct when including the first consonant of a two-letter coda (e.g. drink from drin–) than when corresponding to an “antibody”, having no coda (e.g. claim from clai–). Such results cannot be explained by any account of orthographic processing based purely on the identity and position of the component letters while ignoring their function as an onset, coda, or vowel. Instead, the results are compatible with a model such as the proposed Subsyllabic Processing (SSP) account where subsyllabic structures are hierarchically represented.

Expanding the neighbourhood watch: Orthographic neighbours in isiXhosa reading and spelling

Background: Lexical properties such as orthographic neighbours have been shown to have an influence on reading and writing; however, this phenomenon is yet to be explored in the Southern Bantu languages.Objectives: We investigate the role of orthographic neighbourhood density and neighbourhood frequency in reading and spelling in Grade 3 isiXhosa home-language learners. The aim is to establish whether orthographic neighbours facilitate or hinder reading and spelling. The dual-route model of orthographic processing is used to interpret our findings.Method: Data were collected from 97 Grade 3 isiXhosa home-language learners. Lexical decision, word reading, and spelling tasks were administered. Tasks included both real and pseudowords varying in orthographic neighbourhood density and neighbourhood frequency, while controlling for word length and word frequency.Results: Findings show a significant inhibitory effect of orthographic neighbourhood frequency and word length for spelling accuracy. Longer words with higher frequency neighbours were more likely to be spelt incorrectly. No effect was recorded for the lexical decision and word reading tasks.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that spelling in isiXhosa relies partially on lexical processing strategies, which allows for the inhibitory effects of orthographic neighbours to be observed. While in reading, sublexical processing is more prominent, therefore mitigating the effect of orthographic neighbours.Contribution: Empirical evidence for the effects of orthographic neighbours, specifically in a Southern Bantu language, provides a clearer picture of the underlying cognitive-linguistic processes involved in reading and writing. This evidence may contribute to the development of targeted pedagogical practices to address spelling errors.

The time course of Cantonese and Hong Kong Sign Language phonological activation: An ERP study of deaf bimodal bilingual readers of Chinese

The time course of Cantonese and Hong Kong Sign Language phonological activation: An ERP study of deaf bimodal bilingual readers of Chinese

Metalinguistic Effects on English Spelling: A Structural Equation Model for Early Literacy Instruction

English word spelling attempts originate from spellers’ linguistic and metalinguistic processing. Our study examines the concerted impact of English metalinguistic skills- morphological, phonological, and orthographic processing- on English-as-a-foreign language spelling of a group of young English learners. Structural equation modeling confirmed a three-factor confirmatory factor model, validating phonological awareness on spelling with highest factor loading with degrees of morphology and orthography contribution to spelling. The qualitative spelling analyses also validated phonologically-oriented spelling errors as the most pervasive followed by unique contribution of orthography and morphology. Results, converging with existing literature, emphasize the metalinguistic skills impacts on early EFL literacy development.

Shared and task-specific brain functional differences across multiple tasks in children with developmental dyslexia

Shared and task-specific brain functional differences across multiple tasks in children with developmental dyslexia