Orthographic and Semantic Representations: Consolidation and Role in Visual Word Recognition

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The goal of this research program is to add to our understanding of the cognitive basis of reading; this research represents a continuation of study into the role of specific components of word identity in reading. While facets of word identity, or mental representations, are commonly attributed a leading causal role in much reading theory, direct empirical tests of such tenets are surprisingly limited. When a word is stored in memory, information is encoded pertaining to how it sounds (phonology), how it is spelled (orthography), and the meaning/ concepts represented (semantics). Much reading theory has explained successful word reading as relying upon such intact and integrated representations (e.g., lexical quality hypothesis: Perfetti, 2007; triangle model: Plaut et al., 1996). Further, proficient reading is not always associated with equally proficient spelling; many strong readers struggle with spelling. The dissociation between reading and spelling has been explained with reference to how words are stored in memory; when the representations are incomplete, their degree of specification may suffice for reading (where the visual word is present) but not spelling (where the word must be generated). An intriguing extension of this argument, is that within the individual, some words will have representations that are accurately stored in memory (high quality) while other words will have representations that are incomplete or inaccurate. Viewed through the lens of lexical access, incomplete representations should take longer to activate potentially because of the mismatch between the internal representation and the visual stimuli. Thus, while incomplete representations may suffice for some reading tasks, there should still be a cost to the individual. We recently directly tested this contention through a series of NSERC funded studies, and have found compelling evidence in favor of this explanation with reference to orthographic representations in particular (Martin-Chang et al., 2014; Ouellette et al., 2017; Martin-Chang et al., under review). To date, however, the focus of empirical study has been primarily restricted to orthographic representations and their role in highly skilled adult readers. The program of research proposed here extends this line of inquiry to include evaluation and direct manipulation of both orthographic and semantic representation, while also considering readers of varying proficiency and age. Semantic and orthographic facets of word identity are manipulated through training paradigms within a carefully controlled experimental design, and any consequential effects on reading speed directly measured. Advanced mixed-effect modeling is planned to isolate training effects separate from participant and item (i.e., word) effects. The results of such inquiry stand to contribute significantly to current theoretical models of cognition and reading.