The relationship between perceptual and semantic components in the perception of letters and word combinations on a display screen

Context and relevance. In studies of psychological characteristics of text perception from a sheet and on a display screen, insufficient attention is paid to the perceptual component of perception of the letter composition of words and phrases on the screen. Meanwhile, the ability to perceptually distinguish letters is a prerequisite for learning to read, which is especially relevant in the development of new-generation digital reading teaching aids (primers, web design, etc.). Objective. Using previously obtained and partially published experimental data, give them a new interpretation in the context of the relationship between the perceptual and semantic components of the perception of letters and paired word combinations presented on the display screen. Hypothesis. The limitation of the duration of the perceptual-semantic act when reading words on the screen, caused by the short exposure time and the complexity of the outlines of the test letters, should lead to a discrepancy between the perceptual and semantic components of reading words on the screen, which will be expressed in the anticipatory perception of the semantic meanings of these words and, as a consequence, in the fragmentary perception of their letter composition. Methods and materials. The following letters were selected as test letters to identify the relationship between their perceptual and semantic discrimination on the display screen: “Э”, “З”, “Ш” and “Щ”. These letters were presented on the screen as part of: 1) four prototype words (with the correct letter composition), 2) as part of four fake words of the first type (with the test letter replaced by a test letter-substitution with similar outlines) and 3) four fake words of the second type (with the test letter replaced by another test letter with clearly different outlines). The exposure time was 0,3 s, 0,9 s and 1,45 s. The study involved 15 participants of both sexes aged 19 to 35 years. Results. The number of errors in perceiving test letters depends on the time of exposure to the screen and the complexity of the outlines of these letters. The greatest number of errors was observed when fake words of the first type were presented, which indicates the leading influence of the semantic component of perception, similar to the "word superiority effect". Conclusions. The data obtained suggest that scrolling or skimming, characteristic of digital reading, can lead to fragmentation of perceptual discrimination of the letter composition of the words being read and, as a consequence, provoke spelling illiteracy and/or clipped semantic and semantic perception of the text being read.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

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