ABSTRACT
Most researchers who study visual word recognition assume that an inhibitory length effect (slower Reaction Times for longer words) indicates serial letter processing, while absence of a length effect indicates parallel letter processing. This article discusses why the latter assumption is incorrect. In particular, the SERIOL and SERIOL2 models of orthographic processing imply that, for a specific stimulus configuration, the proposed serial letter processing should yield faster Reaction Times for longer words in the lexical-decision task. Published experimental data confirm this surprising implication, providing strong support for the serialisation mechanism of the SERIOL models.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Carol Whitney http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3891-0304