Visually-presented letter strings typically are encoded phonologically: some converging evidence

Three experiments were conducted to show that phonological encoding is typical for visually-presented letter strings, and that an interactive activation model with a phonological route to the mental lexicon accounts adequately for the word-superiority effect. In Experiment 1, pseudohomophones produced a word-superiority effect that was as great as that produced by words. More accurate target discrimination in homophones than in nonhomophones in Experiment 2 was interpreted to mean that excitability of entries in the mental lexicon increases with frequency of access. Target discrimination accuracy was inversely related to the phonological complexity of strings containing targets in Experiment 3, supposedly because lexical access through which target discrimination is enhanced becomes more difficult as phonological complexity increases.