文摘
Comparisons of the effects of typical and atypical typeface on reading performance among readers of different linguistic backgrounds may yield new insights into the psychology of word recognition. A total of 143 adults (i.e., 50 Chinese, 55 Koreans, 38 native English speakers) participated in the study that involved two computer-based naming tests. The tests presented words with letters that varied in size and shape in Experiment 1 and words containing scrambled letters in Experiment 2. Results from Experiment 1 showed that the interference effect of size and shape on word naming accuracy and latency was robust for all readers. Likewise, results from Experiment 2 showed a broad interference effect of scrambled letters on word naming; however, scrambled letters appeared less disruptive to word naming among Chinese readers compared to their Korean and native English speaking counterparts. Taken together, Chinese speakers were less efficient in recognizing atypical words at the sublexical level, but more efficient at the lexical level.