Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Visual System01:26

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
Vision01:24

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
Gestalt Principles of Perception01:21

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...
Visual Agnosia01:12

Visual Agnosia

Visual agnosia is a condition characterized by the inability to recognize visually presented objects despite having normal vision. For instance, a person with visual agnosia can describe the shape and color of an object but cannot identify or name it. This impairment does not affect their visual field, acuity, color vision, brightness discrimination, language, or memory. An example of this condition in a social setting is someone at a dinner party asking for "that silver thing with a round end"...
Anatomy of the Eyeball01:20

Anatomy of the Eyeball

The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Is AI making us stupid?

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same author

Beyond mean RTs in visual word recognition: Extensions of a remarkably stable three-way interaction amongst word frequency, stimulus degradation, and RT distributions.

Acta psychologica·2026
Same author

Judgments of Direction About Words and Arrows: The Neglected Influence of Task Set.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026
Same author

Judgments of effort and associated cues are influenced by stimulus context.

Consciousness and cognition·2025
Same author

Boredom signals deviation from a cognitive homeostatic set point.

Communications psychology·2025
Same author

Does expecting external memory support cost recognition memory?

Memory & cognition·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology
05:38

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

Published on: June 29, 2021

Not all visual features are created equal: early processing in letter and word recognition.

Sophie N Lanthier1, Evan F Risko, Jennifer A Stolz

  • 1Psychology Department, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. snlanthi@artsmail.uwaterloo.ca

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|January 16, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Removing letter vertices significantly impairs reading aloud compared to removing midsegments. This highlights the critical role of vertices in both letter and word recognition during reading.

More Related Videos

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
06:48

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Published on: June 25, 2019

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color
10:27

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

Published on: February 20, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology
05:38

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

Published on: June 29, 2021

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
06:48

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Published on: June 25, 2019

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color
10:27

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

Published on: February 20, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Visual Perception
  • Reading Science

Background:

  • Letter and word recognition are fundamental to reading.
  • The visual features of letters, such as vertices and midsegments, play a role in recognition.
  • Previous research suggests vertices are important for general object identification.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of deleting specific letter features (vertices vs. midsegments) on reading aloud.
  • To determine the relative importance of vertices and midsegments for both letter and word recognition.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted.
  • Researchers manipulated letter stimuli by deleting vertices or midsegments.
  • Participants performed letter and word recognition tasks while reading aloud.

Main Results:

  • Deleting vertices was more detrimental to letter identification than deleting midsegments.
  • Deleting vertices also significantly impaired word recognition compared to deleting midsegments.
  • The findings were consistent across letter and word recognition tasks.

Conclusions:

  • Vertices are crucial visual features for accurate letter and word recognition during reading aloud.
  • These findings support the importance of vertices in early visual processing for reading.
  • The results align with broader theories on object recognition emphasizing the role of vertices.