PubMed · 10811180
Serial processing in reading aloud: no challenge for a parallel model.
Abstract
K. Rastle and M. Coltheart (1999) challenged parallel models of reading by showing that the cost of irregularity in low-frequency exception words was modulated by the position of the irregularity in the word. This position-of-irregularity effect was taken as strong evidence of serial processing in reading. This article refutes Rastle and Coltheart's theoretical conclusions in 3 ways: First, a parallel model, the connectionist dual process model (M. Zorzi, G. Houghton, & B. Butterworth, 1998b), produces a position-of-irregularity effect. Second, the supposed serial effect can be reduced to a position-specific grapheme-phoneme consistency effect. Third, the position-of-irregularity effect vanishes when the experimental data are reanalyzed using grapheme-phoneme consistency as the covariate. This demonstration has broader implications for studies aiming at adjudicating between models: Strong inferences should be avoided until the computational models are actually tested.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
M Zorzi. 2000. Serial processing in reading aloud: no challenge for a parallel model.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10811180/
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.