Scholars of psychology examine visual word recognition in terms of the processes of recognizing a word and the performance of word-based tasks. Among the topics are dual-route theories of reading aloud, mathematical models of the lexical decision task, methodological issues with words, the front end of visual word recognition, and the orthographic similarity of printed words. The second volume considers visual word recognition as a link to semantics and concepts, cognitive individual differences, reading prose, and learning to read. Psychology Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Word recognition is the component of reading which involves the identification of individual words. Together the two volumes of Visual Word Recognition offer a state-of-the-art overview of contemporary research from leading figures in the field.
This first volume outlines established theory, new models and key experimental evidence used to investigate visual word recognition: lexical decision and word naming. It also considers methodological concerns: new developments in large databases, and how these have been applied to theoretical questions; and control considerations when dealing with words as stimuli. Finally, the book considers the visual-orthographic input to the word recognition system: from the left and right-hand sides of vision, through the processing of letters and their proximity, to the similarity and confusability of words, and the contribution of the spoken-phonological form of the word.
The two volumes serve as a state-of-the-art, comprehensive overview of the field. They are essential reading for researchers of visual word recognition, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students of cognition and cognitive psychology, specifically the psychology of language and reading. They will also be of use to those working in education and speech-language therapy.
