The Effect of expertise and biscriptalism on letter perception: The complexity benefit

Robert W. Wiley, Brenda Rapp

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Previous work has demonstrated that the visual complexity of letter-shapes is processed differently by naïve and expert observers. Specifically, fluent readers of the Arabic alphabet were found to discriminate complex letters more readily than less complex letters, whereas naïve observers exhibited the opposite effect. This “complexity benefit”, wherein complex letters confer a processing advantage to expert observers, is not yet well understood. In a new study, we investigate whether this effect generalizes across scripts, and whether it is unique to individuals with biscriptal experience (knowledge of reading two different scripts). The results of the three experiments confirm that the complexity benefit is characteristic of expert monoscriptal and biscriptal readers, and that, furthermore, there may be a biscriptal advantage in processing visual complexity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCogSci 2017 - Proceedings of the 39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
Subtitle of host publicationComputational Foundations of Cognition
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages1339-1344
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780991196760
StatePublished - 2017
Event39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition, CogSci 2017 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: Jul 26 2017Jul 29 2017

Publication series

NameCogSci 2017 - Proceedings of the 39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition

Conference

Conference39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition, CogSci 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period7/26/177/29/17

Keywords

  • biscriptal
  • orthography
  • perceptual expertise
  • visual complexity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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