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Encoding

Encoding

Information enters the brain through encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once sensory information is received from the environment, the brain labels or codes it. The information is then organized with similar information and connected to existing concepts. Encoding occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing.
Automatic processing involves the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words, usually done without conscious...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Published on: July 13, 2019

Spatial coding of word-initial letters: evidence from a Simon-like task.

Barbara Treccani¹, Roberto Cubelli, Sergio Della Sala

¹Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, University of Padua, Padua, Italy. barbara.treccani@unipd.it

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|July 9, 2008

Summary

Reading automatically processes script direction and codes word beginnings spatially before accessing the orthographic lexicon. This study reveals early visual processing in word recognition.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Published on: July 13, 2019

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Published on: February 19, 2018

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

Published on: June 29, 2021

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience of Reading
Visual Word Processing

Background:

The cognitive processes underlying reading are complex.
Understanding how the brain processes written words, particularly the role of spatial coding and stimulus orientation, is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if word beginnings are preferentially coded during reading.
To determine if this coding is spatial and dependent on stimulus orientation.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted using standard-oriented and mirror-reversed wordlike stimuli (words and pronounceable nonwords).
Participants performed a nonspatial task (key press) based on stimulus features.
A Simon-like effect was measured by response times.

Main Results:

A significant Simon-like effect was observed, demonstrating a correspondence between stimulus beginning position and response key.
Responses to standard-oriented stimuli were faster with the left key.
Responses to mirror-reversed stimuli were faster with the right key.

Conclusions:

The direction of script is automatically processed during reading.
The spatial position of a word's beginning is coded very early, prior to accessing the orthographic lexicon.
This suggests an initial visual-spatial processing stage in reading.