Transcript Reicher (1969): Word Superiority Effect

Reicher (1969): Word
Superiority Effect
Dr. Timothy Bender
Psychology Department
Missouri State University
Springfield, MO 65897
Reicher (1969) explored whether or not
we use parallel processing in the visual
sensory memory. His participants were to
identify a single letter that appeared in one of
four possible locations. The letter appeared
either alone, in a four-letter word, or in a fourletter nonword. All of the stimuli were masked,
making it difficult to identify them.
If we process the letters in a word in a
serial fashion (one letter at a time), it should be
more difficult to identify a letter in a word than
that letter by itself.
If we process the letters in a word in
parallel (all of the letters at once), it should be
just as easy to identify a letter in a word as it is
to identify that letter by itself.
The nonword condition allowed Reicher
to see if there was something unique about
processing a letter in a word vs. that letter in a
mixed group of letters.
The results strongly support the idea that
we engage in parallel processing in iconic
memory. However, Reicher (1969) is most often
cited for an additional interesting result which
we will discuss after the demonstration.
In this demonstration, you will see a
series of 24 stimuli. The stimuli will be either a
four-letter word, the same four letters in a
mixed order, or a single letter. The single letter
will appear in any of the four letter positions
from the word condition. The stimulus will
appear for about 66 milliseconds and will be
followed immediately by a pattern of lines.
Along with the pattern mask you will see
a choice of two letters above one of the four
letter positions. Your task is to choose which
of the two letters appeared in that location in
the original stimulus.
The following is an example of a stimulus
from the word condition. A + will appear first
near the center of the screen, then the stimulus
and mask will occur.
Which
letter?
The following is an example of a stimulus
from the nonword condition. A + will appear
first near the center of the screen, then the
stimulus and mask will occur.
Which
letter?
The following is an example of a stimulus
from the letter condition. A + will appear first
near the center of the screen, then the stimulus
and mask will occur.
Which
letter?
The first stimulus will appear on the next
slide. You will need a response sheet with the
numbers 1 - 24 listed in a column.
For each stimulus, please choose one of
the two letter choices, even if you think it is
just a guess. Give it your best guess.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
The next
screen is the
next stimulus.
Which letter?
You will score
your
performance
next.
You will have three scores, one for each
type of stimulus. You will first figure your
Letters score. Give yourself 1 point for each of
the following that you answered correctly.
2. L
8. V
13. G
19. T
6. C
12. V
17. Y
23. D
Figure out the mean score for the class.
You will now figure your Nonword score.
Give yourself 1 point for each of the following
that you answered correctly.
3. V
7. Y
15. D
20. C
4. G
10. T
18. L
22. V
Figure out the mean score for the class.
You will now figure your Word score.
Give yourself 1 point for each of the following
that you answered correctly.
1.Y
9. D
14. C
21. V
5. T
11. L
16. V
24. G
Figure out the mean score for the class.
If your class performed similarly to the
participants in Reicher (1969) you scored
better in the Word condition than in either the
Nonword or Letter conditions. In other words,
Reicher found that it is easier to recognize a
letter in a simple word than it is to recognize
that letter alone or in a nonword!
This has been called the Word
Superiority Effect.
If your class’s did not show the Word
Superiority Effect, do not worry. Reicher’s
participants performed the task as individuals
in a much better controlled environment than
the classroom. Also, they were pretested to
determine the optimal presentation speed for
each participant.
One other difference between this
demonstration and Reicher’s (1969) research
is that in addition to the single word, nonword,
and letter conditions, Reicher used two-word,
two-nonword, and two-letters conditions. In
other words, his participants had to pay
attention to 8 different positions on the screen
rather than just 4.
You are strongly encouraged to read the
original article for a better understanding of
the research.
One popular attempt to explain the Word
Superiority Effect is the interactive activation
model of McClelland & Rumelhart (1981).
Basically, they suggest that both feature
processing and word processing provide
additional support to letter processing.
Therefore, when a letter appears in a word, the
letter is recognized more easily than when the
letter appears alone or in a nonword.
References
McClelland, J. L., & Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An
interactive activation model of context
effects in letter perception: Part 1. An
account of basic findings. Psychological
Review, 88, 375-407.
Reicher, G. M. (1969). Perceptual recognition
as a function of meaningfulness of
stimulus material. Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 81, 275-280.