Orthographic units in the absence of visual processing: Evidence from sublexical structure in braille

Fischer‐Baum, Simon; Englebretson, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2016.03.021

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…While the small pool of words as well as the short training period of participants alongside the relatively small sample size all limit the extent of application of the results, these lastly presented results suggest that the OVAL system may be a promising tool to investigate reading processes between sensory-modalities, ultimately allowing to disentangle sensory-specific from sensoryindependent processes, an issue often debated in reading research for various reading components [71]. Past attempts in this direction compared performances between visual reading and Braille [71][72][73]. However, all this research had an inherent bias, as sighted individuals were tested on print while blind readers on Braille.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 93%

The sound of reading: Color-to-timbre substitution boosts reading performance via OVAL, a novel auditory orthography optimized for visual-to-auditory mapping

2020

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Reading is a unique human cognitive skill and its acquisition was proven to extensively affect both brain organization and neuroanatomy. Differently from western sighted individuals, literacy rates via tactile reading systems, such as Braille, are declining, thus imposing an alarming threat to literacy among non-visual readers. This decline is due to many reasons including the length of training needed to master Braille, which must also include extensive tactile sensitivity exercises, the lack of proper Braille instruction and the high costs of Braille devices. The far-reaching consequences of low literacy rates, raise the need to develop alternative, cheap and easy-to-master non-visual reading systems. To this aim, we developed OVAL, a new auditory orthography based on a visual-to-auditory sensory-substitution algorithm. Here we present its efficacy for successful words-reading, and investigation of the extent to which redundant features defining characters (i.e., adding specific colors to letters conveyed into audition via different musical instruments) facilitate or impede auditory reading outcomes. Thus, we tested two groups of blindfolded sighted participants who were either exposed to a monochromatic or to a color version of OVAL. First, we showed that even before training, all participants were able to discriminate between 11 OVAL characters significantly more than chance level. Following 6 hours of specific OVAL training, participants were able to identify all the learned characters, differentiate them from untrained letters, and read short words/pseudo-words of up to 5 characters. The Color group outperformed the Monochromatic group in all tasks, suggesting that redundant characters’ features are beneficial for auditory reading. Overall, these results suggest that OVAL is a promising auditory-reading tool that can be used by blind individuals, by people with reading deficits as well as for the investigation of reading specific processing dissociated from the visual modality.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 93%

The sound of reading: Color-to-timbre substitution boosts reading performance via OVAL, a novel auditory orthography optimized for visual-to-auditory mapping

2020

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“…However, the magnitude of the TL effect was still reasonably large in the altered-contrast condition. To examine whether the TL effect could be erased by visual perceptual factors, we conducted yet another experiment with a potentially more extreme manipulation: the word/pseudoword’s constituent letters were presented simultaneously (i.e., as in the typical word recognition experiments) or were presented serially one-by-one as occurs when reading in braille—note that although braille readers do not show TL similarity effects in lexical decision (Perea, García-Chamorro, et al, 2012), they are sensitive to the sublexical structure of words (Fischer-Baum & Englebretson, 2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At an abstract level of processing, recent research has shown similarities between braille and sighted readers. Fischer-Baum and Englebretson (2016) showed that braille readers are sensitive to sublexical structures when identifying written words and these effects “extend beyond the serial recognition of a single cell at a time” (p. 170). That is, the sublexical orthographic processes in braille readers are comparable with their sighted peers when reading an alphabetic script—indeed, braille readers also activate the “visual word form area” when reading (see Reich, Szwed, Cohen, & Amedi, 2011).…”

Section: Orthographic Representation–based Accountsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can letter position encoding be modified by visual perceptual elements?

Marcet

Perea

Baciero

et al. 2018

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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A plethora of studies has revealed that letter position coding is relatively flexible during word recognition (e.g., the transposed-letter [TL] pseudoword CHOLOCATE is frequently misread as CHOCOLATE). A plausible explanation of this phenomenon is that letter identity and location are not perfectly bound as a consequence of the limitations of the visual system. Thus, a complete characterization of letter position coding requires an examination of how letter position coding can be modulated by visual perceptual elements. Here we conducted three lexical decision experiments with TL and replacement-letter pseudowords that manipulated the visual characteristics of the stimuli. In Experiment 1, each syllable was presented either in a different colour or monochromatically (e.g., [Formula: see text] vs. [Formula: see text]) with the transposition occurring across syllables. In Experiment 2, the critical letters had a consistent contrast or not (e.g., [Formula: see text] vs. [Formula: see text]). In Experiment 3, the stimuli were presented either simultaneously or serially, letter by letter (i.e., as occurs in braille reading). Results showed that whereas colouring differently each syllable only produced a small nonsignificant reduction of the TL effect, the other two manipulations-presenting the two critical letters with an altered contrast and presenting the letters one at a time-reduced, but did not eliminate, the magnitude of the TL effect relative to the regular format. Although these findings are consistent with models that postulate an early perceptual locus of the TL effect, the robustness of the TL effect suggests that letter position coding also has an orthographic abstract component.

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“…The most common form of English braille is contracted braille , in which highly familiar words and letter clusters (e.g., EA, ST, ED) are represented in a single cell (a cell is the 2 × 3 matrix of raised dots that constitutes the basic unit of braille writing). Although uncontracted braille (a writing system that does not use contractions) is used in the very early stages of learning to read, contracted braille is preferred because it saves space in printing and is also thought to permit more rapid reading (see Fischer-Baum & Englebretson, 2016, for discussion). Braille contractions are language specific, and in English, are regulated by the International Council of English Braille (see, for example, Simpson, 2013).…”

Section: Conclusion and Emerging Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Braille contractions are language specific, and in English, are regulated by the International Council of English Braille (see, for example, Simpson, 2013). However, Fischer-Baum and Englebretson (2016) identified a potential problem with these contractions: They often straddle and thus obscure morpheme boundaries (e.g., miSTrust, rERun, milEAge; in these examples, the letters in capitals are expressed in a single Braille cell). Fischer-Baum and Englebretson (2016) went on to show that the obscuring of the morpheme boundary in these forms disrupts word recognition.…”

Section: Conclusion and Emerging Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

EPS mid-career prize lecture 2017: Writing systems, reading, and language

Rastle

2019

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Skilled reading reflects an accumulation of experience with written language. Written language is typically viewed as an expression of spoken language, and this perspective has motivated approaches to understanding reading and reading acquisition. However, in this article, I develop the proposal that written language has diverged from spoken language in important ways that maximise the transmission of meaningful information, and that this divergence has been central to the development of rapid, skilled reading. I use English as an example to show that weaknesses in the relationship between spelling and sound can give rise to strong regularities between spelling and meaning that are critical for the rapid analysis of printed words. I conclude by arguing that the nature of the reading system is a reflection of the writing system and that a deep understanding of reading can be obtained only through a deep understanding of written language.

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Orthographic units in the absence of visual processing: Evidence from sublexical structure in braille

Cited by 21 publications

References 73 publications

The sound of reading: Color-to-timbre substitution boosts reading performance via OVAL, a novel auditory orthography optimized for visual-to-auditory mapping

The sound of reading: Color-to-timbre substitution boosts reading performance via OVAL, a novel auditory orthography optimized for visual-to-auditory mapping

Can letter position encoding be modified by visual perceptual elements?

EPS mid-career prize lecture 2017: Writing systems, reading, and language

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