VISUAL REPETITION PRIMING FOR WORDS RELIES ON ACCESS TO THE VISUAL INPUT LEXICON - EVIDENCE FROM A DYSLEXIC PATIENT

In this study we tested the hypothesis that visual repetition priming for words depends upon the accessibility of lexical units in the visua l input lexicon. For this purpose, we investigated a dyslexic patient, A.M., whose neuropsychological performances suggested an impaired acc ess to the lexical route of reading. According to the predictions, Exp eriments 1 and 2 demonstrated deficient priming in tests involving the visual presentation of words (Word Identification and Stem Completion ). In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that A.M.'s deficient priming was specific for visually presented words, in that the auditory presentati on elicited a normal priming effect (auditory Stem Completion). These data are discussed in the light uf a theoretical framework suggesting a fractionation of the modalities by which repetition priming can be e licited, each mediated by a particular memory subsystem.