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Visual perceptual limitations on letter position uncertainty in reading

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2012

Marialuisa Martelli
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy. marialuisa.martelli@uniroma1.it Neuropsychology Unit, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Health Care (IRCCS, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00142 Rome, Italy. cristina.burani@istc.cnr.it
Cristina Burani
Affiliation:
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Rome, Italy. pierluigi.zoccolotti@uniroma1.it
Pierluigi Zoccolotti
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy. marialuisa.martelli@uniroma1.it Neuropsychology Unit, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Health Care (IRCCS, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00142 Rome, Italy. cristina.burani@istc.cnr.it

Abstract

Frost presents an explanatory theory of reading that generalizes across several languages, based on a revised role of orthographic coding. Perceptual and psychophysical evidence indicates a decay of letter position encoding as a function of the eccentricity of letters (crowding); this factor may account for some of the differences in the languages considered by Frost.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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