The Visual “Confusability” of High-frequency Words

Abstract

This study examines the visual “confusability” of selected high-frequency words. Beginning readers were presented 120 words in a match-to-sample task in an attempt to provide data on the relative discriminability of each. The results indicate these young subjects had mastered this task to a high level of proficiency. Nevertheless, selected words accounted for a majority of the confusions. The implications for teachers of beginning readers are discussed.

Differences in poor readers' abilities to identify high‐frequency words in isolation and context

“…A total of 96 high-frequency sight words from Allington (1977) were used for the isolation condition. Each of these words appeared on three basic word lists: Dolch's (1948) basic word list of 220 service words, Durr's (1973) list of 188 frequent words, and the Harris-Jacobsen Basic Elementary Reading Vocabularies (1972).…”