La catégorisation visuelle des lettres et les habiletés de lecture chez l’enfant
Letter identification is a process of categorization; a wide variety of visual stimuli are sorted into 26 distinct categories. Word reading is assumed to be dependant on the process of letter identities, abstracting over their visual forms. Some evidence suggest categorical perception of letters in literate adults. However, these studies focussed mostly on pre-lexical process of letters without the implication of the central reading processes. This current study employed a categorical perception paradigm with the letters b-d as a test case to examine the mode of perception of letters in children; and its role in reading. The results show that children perceived the letters b and d in a categorical manner, suggesting that their abstract letter representations influenced their perception. The results also show that categorial perception of letters seemed to be linked to irregular words, but not to pseudo-word reading ability. This study supports the importance of abstract representations in reading and allows a better understanding of the processes involved in reading.
Reading Categorical perception Abstract letter identity Children Clinical neuropsychology