Holistic and Analytical Processing: Reaction Time in Recognizing High- and Low-Frequency Words

Abstract

Investigating cognitive processes has taken various routes in word recognition studies; however, in recent years, considerable attention has been paid to two major word-recognition mechanisms: holistic and analytical processing. Taking these two mechanisms as complementary solutions, this study examined the case-alteration effect as a variable in word recognition. To this end, 80 English words, some of high-frequency and some low-frequency, were selected as stimuli. Non-words were generated as control stimuli. All were presented in lowercase, uppercase, and mixed-case. Results show that participants used the holistic mechanism to recognize high- and low-frequency words and analytical processing to recognize low-frequency non-words. Both high- and low-frequency words were sensitive to case alteration. Results are compatible with the dual-route model of word recognition.