Phonological recording and use of spelling-sound rules in reading of sentences

Abstract

Phonological recoding in reading may be accomplished by use of one or both of two different mechanisms—spelling-sound rules and word-specific associations. The three experiments reported focus on phonological recoding in fluent reading of meaningful sentences, and ask whether spelling-sound rules play a role in this process. The results show that effects attributed to spelling-sound rule use—effects previously found in lexical decision tasks with single words—emerge also in sentence-reading tasks. These effects include inhibition on words with similar spellings and different pronounciations and exception word/ regular word differences. It is concluded that phonological recoding and spelling-sound rule use continue to be important even for fluent readers.