PRELEXICAL PHONOLOGICAL COMPUTATION IN A DEEP ORTHOGRAPHY - EVIDENCE FROM BACKWARD-MASKING IN HEBREW

Prelexical phonological computation of print was examined in Hebrew or thography using backward masking. Target words were masked by homophon ic, phonologically similar, or phonologically dissimilar nonwords. Pho nological similarity between masks and targets affected detection in a nonlinear fashion: No differences were found between homophonic and p honologically similar masks, whereas phonologically dissimilar masks h indered identification dramatically. This suggests that representation s computed in brief exposures are coarse grained and not detailed enou gh to capture fine phonetic differences.