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Abstract
Even adults sometimes have difficulty choosing between single- and double-letter spellings, as in spinet versus spinnet. The present study examined the phonological and graphotactic factors that influence adults' use of single versus double medial consonants in the spelling of nonwords. We tested 111 adults from a community sample who varied widely in spelling ability. Better spellers were more affected than less good spellers by phonological context in that they were more likely to double consonants after short vowels and less likely to double consonants after long vowels. Although descriptions of the English writing system focus on the role of phonology in determining use of single versus double consonants, participants were also influenced by graphotactic context. There was an effect of preceding graphotactic context, such that spellers were less likely to use a double consonant when they spelled the preceding vowel with more than one letter than when they spelled it with one letter. There was also an effect of following graphotactic context, such that doubling rate varied with the letters that the participant used at the end of the nonword. These graphotactic influences did not differ significantly in strength across the range of spelling ability in our study. Discussion focuses on the role of statistical learning in the learning of spelling patterns, especially those patterns that are not explicitly taught.
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Angelelli P, Marinelli CV, Putzolu A, Notarnicola A, Iaia M, Burani C. Learning to Spell in a Language with Transparent Orthography: Distributional Properties of Orthography and Whole-Word Lexical Processing. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2017; 71:704-716. [PMID: 28052739 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1275715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paola Angelelli
- Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Laboratory of Applied Psychology and Intervention, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Chiara Valeria Marinelli
- Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Laboratory of Applied Psychology and Intervention, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
- IRCCS Foundation Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Putzolu
- Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Laboratory of Applied Psychology and Intervention, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Alessandra Notarnicola
- Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Laboratory of Applied Psychology and Intervention, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Marika Iaia
- Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Laboratory of Applied Psychology and Intervention, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
| | - Cristina Burani
- ISTC–CNR, Rome, Italy
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy
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Marinelli CV, Romani C, Burani C, Zoccolotti P. Spelling Acquisition in English and Italian: A Cross-Linguistic Study. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1843. [PMID: 26696918 PMCID: PMC4672065 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2015] [Accepted: 11/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We examined the spelling acquisition in children up to late primary school of a consistent orthography (Italian) and an inconsistent orthography (English). The effects of frequency, lexicality, length, and regularity in modulating spelling performance of the two groups were examined. English and Italian children were matched for both chronological age and number of years of schooling. Two-hundred and seven Italian children and 79 English children took part in the study. We found greater accuracy in spelling in Italian than English children: Italian children were very accurate after only 2 years of schooling, while in English children the spelling performance was still poor after 5 years of schooling. Cross-linguistic differences in spelling accuracy proved to be more persistent than the corresponding ones in reading accuracy. Orthographic consistency produced not only quantitative, but also qualitative differences, with larger frequency and regularity effects in English than in Italian children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara V Marinelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza Rome, Italy ; Neuropsychological Research Centre, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Rome, Italy
| | - Cristina Romani
- School of Life and Health Science, Aston University Birmingham, UK
| | - Cristina Burani
- ISTC Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Rome, Italy ; Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste Trieste, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Zoccolotti
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza Rome, Italy ; Neuropsychological Research Centre, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Rome, Italy
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Dich N. Orthographic consistency affects spoken word recognition at different grain-sizes. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2014; 43:141-148. [PMID: 23504558 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-013-9247-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
A number of previous studies found that the consistency of sound-to-spelling mappings (feedback consistency) affects spoken word recognition. In auditory lexical decision experiments, words that can only be spelled one way are recognized faster than words with multiple potential spellings. Previous studies demonstrated this by manipulating feedback consistency of rhymes. The present lexical decision study, done in English, manipulated the spelling of individual vowels within consistent rhymes. Participants recognized words with consistent rhymes where the vowel has the most typical spelling (e.g., lobe) faster than words with consistent rhymes where the vowel has a less typical spelling (e.g., loaf). The present study extends previous literature by showing that auditory word recognition is affected by orthographic regularities at different grain sizes, just like written word recognition and spelling. The theoretical and methodological implications for future research in spoken word recognition are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadya Dich
- Department of Human Development, Cornell University MVR Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA,
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O’Brien BA. The Development of Sensitivity to Sublexical Orthographic Constraints: An Investigation of Positional Frequency and Consistency Using a Wordlikeness Choice Task. READING PSYCHOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/02702711.2012.724042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Tainturier MJ, Bosse ML, Roberts DJ, Valdois S, Rapp B. Lexical neighborhood effects in pseudoword spelling. Front Psychol 2013; 4:862. [PMID: 24348436 PMCID: PMC3842689 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2013] [Accepted: 10/30/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The general aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the cognitive processes that underpin skilled adult spelling. More specifically, it investigates the influence of lexical neighbors on pseudo-word spelling with the goal of providing a more detailed account of the interaction between lexical and sublexical sources of knowledge in spelling. In prior research examining this topic, adult participants typically heard lists composed of both words and pseudo-words and had to make a lexical decision to each stimulus before writing the pseudo-words. However, these priming paradigms are susceptible to strategic influence and may therefore not give a clear picture of the processes normally engaged in spelling unfamiliar words. In our two Experiments involving 71 French-speaking literate adults, only pseudo-words were presented which participants were simply requested to write to dictation using the first spelling that came to mind. Unbeknownst to participants, pseudo-words varied according to whether they did or did not have a phonological word neighbor. Results revealed that low-probability phoneme/grapheme mappings (e.g., /o/ -> aud in French) were used significantly more often in spelling pseudo-words with a close phonological lexical neighbor with that spelling (e.g., /krepo/ derived from “crapaud,” /krapo/) than in spelling pseudo-words with no close neighbors (e.g., /frøpo/). In addition, the strength of this lexical influence increased with the lexical frequency of the word neighbors as well as with their degree of phonetic overlap with the pseudo-word targets. These results indicate that information from lexical and sublexical processes is integrated in the course of spelling, and a specific theoretical account as to how such integration may occur is introduced.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marie-Line Bosse
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, CNRS UMR 5105, University of Grenoble France
| | | | - Sylviane Valdois
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition, CNRS UMR 5105, University of Grenoble France
| | - Brenda Rapp
- Cognitive Science Department, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MA, USA
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Vousden JI. Units of English spelling-to-sound mapping: a rational approach to reading instruction. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2008. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.1371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Caravolas M, Kessler B, Hulme C, Snowling M. Effects of orthographic consistency, frequency, and letter knowledge on children's vowel spelling development. J Exp Child Psychol 2005; 92:307-21. [PMID: 16199051 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2005.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2004] [Revised: 07/31/2005] [Accepted: 08/02/2005] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated children's sensitivity to spelling consistency, and lexical and sublexical (rime) frequency, and their use of explicitly learned canonical vowel graphemes in the early stages of learning to spell. Vowel spellings produced by 78 British children at the end of reception year (mean age 5 years, 7 months) and 6 months later in mid-Year 1 were assessed. Regression analyses revealed that, at both test times, knowledge of sound-letter correspondences influenced spelling performance; however, unconditional consistency of vowel spellings affected children's spelling most strongly, over and above additional effects of word and rime frequency and the complexity of the target vowel grapheme. The effect of conditional consistency of vowel spellings given coda contexts was not significant. Thus, young children are sensitive to various statistical properties of the orthography from the earliest phases of spelling development and, in particular, to the unconditional consistency of the vowel spelling pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markéta Caravolas
- School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZA, UK.
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Bonin P, Collay S, Fayol M, Méot A. Attentional strategic control over nonlexical and lexical processing in written spelling to dictation in adults. Mem Cognit 2005; 33:59-75. [PMID: 15915793 DOI: 10.3758/bf03195297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We conducted four experiments to investigate whether adults can exert attentional strategic control over nonlexical and lexical processing in written spelling to dictation. In Experiment 1, regular and irregular words were produced either in a nonword context (regular and irregular nonwords) or in a word context (high-frequency regular and irregular words), whereas in Experiment 2, the same set of words was produced either in a regular nonword or in an irregular low-frequency word context. Experiment 3 was a replication of Experiment 2 but with increased manipulation of the context. In Experiment 4, participants had to produce either under time pressure or in response to standard written spelling instructions. Regularity effects were found in all the experiments, but their size was not reliably affected by manipulations intended to increase or decrease reliance on nonlexical processing. More particularly, the results from Experiment 4 show that adults can speed up the initialization of their writing responses to a substantial degree without altering regularity effects on either latencies or spelling errors. Our findings suggest that, although adults are able to generate an internal deadline criterion of when to initialize the writing responses, nonlexical processing is a mandatory process that is not subject to attentional strategic control in written spelling to dictation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Bonin
- CNRS and Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
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