In the Reicher-Wheeler paradigm, fluent readers can identify letters b
etter when they appear in a word than when they appear in either a pro
nounceable pseudoword (a lexicality effect) or a single letter (a word
-letter effect). It was predicted that if both of these effects involv
e a lexical factor, then adult acquired dyslexic subjects whose defici
t prevents access to visual word form should show disruptions of the n
ormal effects on the Reicher-Wheeler task. The results were that dysle
xic subjects as well as matched control subjects showed a lexicality e
ffect; however, while the control subjects showed a normal word-letter
effect, the dyslexic subjects showed a reverse letter-superiority eff
ect. Both effects, however, showed a systematic variation: As performa
nce on lexical decision improved, the subjects' performance on words i
n the Reicher-Wheeler task was better than that for all the other cond
itions. These subject correlations were replicated by using data from
a second lexical decision experiment, which utilized the same words an
d pseudowords that were used in the Reicher-Wheeler task. In addition,
an item analysis showed that the words that the subjects had discrimi
nated correctly in lexical decision showed a significant advantage ove
r those that they had not, as well as an improvement relative to the o
ther conditions. These results suggest that there is a lexical factor
underlying the lexicality and word-letter effects, and it is proposed
that the abnormal letter-superiority effect can be accounted for as th
e manifestation of other competing factors.