Abstract

To analyze the impact of outline shape on visual word recognition, the visual pattern of the stimuli can be distorted by size alternation. Contrary to the predictions of models that rely on outline shape (Allen et al., 1995), the effect of size alternation was greater for lowfrequency words than for high-frequency words in a lexical decision task (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the effect of case type (lowercase vs. UPPERCASE) occurred for lowfrequency words, but not for high-frequency words. The effect of neighborhood size was remarkably similar in the two experiments. The results can be readily explained in the framework of a resonance model (Grossberg & Stone, 1986), in which a mismatch between the original sensory pattern and the abstract orthographic code slows down the formation of a stable percept. 3 An important (and recurrent) issue in visual word recognition in alphabetic languages is whether words can be formed uniquely on the basis of abstract letter units or, instead, they can also be formed on the basis of other sources (e.g., via word global shape). Undoubtedly, this is clearly an issue that has implications for the teaching of both reading and spelling (Besner, 1983). Although early research suggested that words could be identified by the use of word shape (see Cattell, 1886), most theorists currently support the idea that words are initially formed from component letters ("analytical" models; e.g., search model, Forster, 1976; multiple read-out model, Grainger & Jacobs, 1996; interactive-activation model, McClelland & Rumelhart, 1981; activation-verification model, Paap, Newsome, McDonald, & Schvaneveldt, 1982). In these models, information about visual form is probably lost early in the process of word recognition, so that the particular visual form t...

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