SPELLING-TO-SOUND EFFECTS IN SINGLE-WORD READING

Computational modelling of word-naming processes has suggested that th e frequency of spelling-to-sound correspondence facilitates print-to-s ound translation time and has given rise to predictions that are suppo rted by empirical data (Brown, 1987a). This contrasts with earlier cla ims that regularity is the only spelling-to-sound correspondence attri bute that determines word-naming time. Here we report further evidence for the effects of the frequency of spelling-to-sound correspondences on word-naming latency. Experiment 1 excludes alternative, orthograph ic neighbourhood interpretations of the putative spelling-to-sound eff ects. Experiment 2 shows that a word's number of rhymes does not affec t naming latency for that word, thus excluding explanations in terms o f output phonology. Experiment 3 replicates earlier findings that a wo rd's spelling-to-sound enemies, as well as friends, determine naming l atency. Thus both the regularity and the frequency of spelling-to-soun d correspondences influence word-naming time. The implications for mod els of oral reading processes are explored.