Reading: Perceptual process;

theories of word recognition,

reading and
comprehension
Balaji Niwlikar

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 READING
• Reading is a challenging cognitive task that differs from
understanding spoken language in several respect .Ex. Reader can
control the rate of input and they can re scan the text.
• Working memory helps readers decoding ambiguous sentences .
• Reading involves perception, language, memory, thinking, and
intelligence (Adams, 1990,1999; Garrod & Daneman, 2003; Smith,
2004).
• Goal of reading is to translate the visual information i.e.
letters/words/sentences on the page into semantic information
about the meaning of words .
• The eyes makes saccadic movements during reading . the
perceptual span during fixation includes roughly four letters to the
left of the centre and eight letters on right.
• Average adult reads prose at about 250-300 words per minute.

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 Perceptual process
• Eyes makes Saccadic movements i.e. rapid movements of eyes
from one spot to the next. To bring spot at the centre of the
retina, where vision is sharpest.
• Fixation-visual system acquires the useful information for
reading(Blankchard, 1987).
• Methods for assessing perceptual process in READING
• Gaze Contingent Paradigm- alternating letter displayed on
cathode ray . Ex. ‘..rmot lif…..’ concluded our perceptual span (
region seen during the pause between saccadic movements)
during fixation includes roughly 4 letters to the left of the centre
and 8 letters on right from centre.
• Research- have saccadic eye movements several predictable
patterns ----
• Eye usually jumps past word ‘the’ and predictable
words/sentences (O’Regan, 1979).
• Size of saccadic movements is small if the next word / sentence is
misplaced or if it is long word(McConkie & Zola 1984).
• The Good Reader makes larger jumps and is also less likely to
move backward , shorter pause 1/5 th second.
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 Theories of word recognition
• There are 3 main theories /hypothesis /method to explain how reader recognize
printed words.
THE DIRECT ACCESS HYPOTHESIS – Reader can recognize word directly from printed
letters without sound.
By looking word ‘recognition’ and the visual pattern is sufficient to let you locate
information about the meaning of the word in semantic memory.

visual stimulus meaning

Evidence –
a. homonyms like ‘their’ & ‘there’, if we translate these word in sound those will be
same.
b. Bradshaw & nettleton,1974-similar spelling but not sound Ex. horse- worse
,quart-part .Results –silent reading dose not lead to a silent pronunciation of the
word .
c. Clinical observation of DEEP DYSLEXIA(unable to translate printed words into
sound) they were able to see the word and identify its meaning(Bense,r1981).

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 2. THE INDIRECT ACCESS HYPOTHESIS
• Indirect –need intermediate step i. e. sound.
• Also named phonologically mediating hypothesis.
• There is an obligatory translation from ink marks on pages to
some form of speech code in order to gain access to store of
word meaning during reading(Benser,1981).

Visual Sound
Meaning
stimulus stimulus

• Evidences-
a. We read aloud when face difficult word.
b. Word sound is important when children begin to learn(wanger
& Torgesen, 1987).
c. Children likely to judge sentences as meaningful if they
sounded meaningful . Ex. ‘’He run threw the street’’ & ‘’He run
through the street.’’(Doctor & Coltheart, 1980)
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 3. DUAL CODE HYPOTHESIS
• Argues that we can use either route (Coltheart & Rastle,1944).
• At present this hypothesis seems most appropriate approach.
• Characteristics of the reader determine whether access is
indirect or indirect.
• Evidences-
• Implications for teaching reading –
• Direct hypothesis supporter suggest use of Whole word
approach-connect word with meaning(Rayner,2001).and
identify words in context
• Indirect hypothesis supporter suggest use of the phonics
approach-try to pronounce the individual letters of word. they
will be better speller because of phonics training (Pressley,1996).
• Whole language approach suggest reading instruction should
emphasize meaning ,children should read story books
,experiments with writing before they are expert speller, try to
guess the meaning in context(Rayner,2001)
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 Reading & Comprehension
• 1932 Bartllet –’’now we need to consider larger conceptual units in
reading ,beyond the level of sentence.’’
• We know the importance of context in understanding word . Herein
reading it is more difficult , still important (Sharkey & Sharkey,1987).
• At all levels of reading comprehension, there is a interaction between the
process of physical stimuli(bottom up processing ) and the context
provided by expectations and previous knowledge (top down process).
• Two important Components of reading comprehension
1. Specific Background Knowledge – the more you know about a topic the
easier it is to learn even more. Spilich,1979. reports on Base Ball shows
qualitative differences in recall.
2. Forming a Coherent Representation of the text- it is more complex than
simply fitting words and phases together. Reader must gather
information together ,making the massage both cohesive & stable.
Meyer,1980 research on students on recall..found that 3/4th students
who scored high on reading comprehension test use used same
structure
• Reading comprehension tends to be associated with understanding the
organization text passage

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 Reading & Comprehension
• People often make inferences that go beyond the information
supplied by the writer.
• Info. Of world to present passage .
• Drawing Inferences is useful heuristics .
• it produce errors.
• Factors encourages Inferences in Reading-
1. Scripts = theses are simple well structured sequence of events ,
such as going to café.
Sharkey & Mitchell,1985-script of birthday party was given then
different words shown to respondents and asked quickly where
these words are English or not ? Findings were judgments were
significantly faster when word related to birthday party.
1. Text
2. Our own preferences(only reading about ‘Karna’)

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 Meta-comprehension
• It refers to our thoughts about or reading
comprehension. like meta cognition.
• Meta-comprehension involves accurately assessing
whether or not you understand a written passage.
• It also involves regulating your reading ,so that you
know hoe to read more effectively.
• Improving meta comprehension –
• Effective way to improve Meta-comprehension is to
take a pre test ,which can supply feedback about
comprehension before taking actual exam(Glenberg
1987) .
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