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Why do we mipsell the middle of words? Exploring the role of orthographic texture in the serial position effect

Jones, Angela C.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1246891489

Abstract Details

2009, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
Spelling accuracy has been shown to vary as a function of letter position in beginning (Mendenhall, 1930; Treiman, Berch, & Weatherston, 1993), skilled (Wing & Baddeley, 1980), and neurologically impaired spellers (Caramazza, Miceli, Villa, & Romani, 1987); word-medial letters are spelled less accurately than word-initial and final letters. This serial position effect has been attributed to competition among letters during output. However, no alternate hypothesis has been offered and tested. In the current set of experiments, I test the hypothesis that the serial position effect is due to orthographic texture, or variations in the activation strength of individual letters in words. The results are particularly damaging to competition accounts of the serial position effect because accuracy in word-medial positions was found to be as high as or higher than accuracy in word-initial and final positions when a measure of orthographic texture was manipulated. Instead, results support the hypothesis that the serial position effect is due to orthographic texture. In providing support for the orthographic texture hypothesis, I also introduce a new methodology for examining spelling accuracy which complements the cognitive neuropsychological approach often used in studies of skilled spelling representation and processing.
Jocelyn R. Folk, PhD (Advisor)
Katherine A. Rawson, PhD (Committee Member)
Janis H. Crowther, PhD (Committee Member)
John Dunlosky, PhD (Committee Member)
Christopher Was, PhD (Committee Member)
Sarah Rilling, PhD (Committee Member)
70 p.
Psychology
spelling; orthography; serial position

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jones, A. C. (2009). Why do we mipsell the middle of words? Exploring the role of orthographic texture in the serial position effect [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1246891489

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jones, Angela. Why do we mipsell the middle of words? Exploring the role of orthographic texture in the serial position effect. 2009. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1246891489.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jones, Angela. "Why do we mipsell the middle of words? Exploring the role of orthographic texture in the serial position effect." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1246891489

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1246891489
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.