Code-Specific Processes in Word Naming: Evidence Supporting a Dual-Route Model of Word Recognition

This research examined visual and phonological coding in visual word recognition. Participants named words while performing 1 of 3 memory tasks. The difficulty of the memory tasks was varied. In Experiment 1, increasing the difficulty of a digit-memory load resulted in slower naming of low-frequency regular (e.g., wink) words but faster naming of low- frequency exception (e.g., pint) words. In Experiment 2, increasing the difficulty of a dot-memory load slowed naming of low-frequency exception words more than naming of low-frequency regular words. In Experiment 3, increasing the difficulty of a tone-memory load resulted in slower naming of both low-frequency regular and exception words. The results are consistent with dual-route assumptions concerning code-specific processes in word recognition