Category-level contributions to the alphanumeric category effect in visual search

Do letter and digit recognition depend on the same or different cognitive mechanisms? Letters are detected more quickly among digits than among letters; likewise, digit search is facilitated when distractors are letters, as opposed to digits. This effect suggests that different mechanisms underlie recognition of these two categories. There are, however, systematic physical differences between letters and digits that might account for the effect. We used target and distractor stimuli that facilitated within-category search when inverted, and category identity was, thereby, attenuated. However, in conditions of upright search, in which category identity was more salient, between-category search was more efficient for the same stimuli. These findings suggest that letter and digit recognition are, at least to a degree, functionally independent.