The acquisition of literacy transforms the human brain. By reviewing studies of illiterate
subjects, we propose specific hypotheses on how the functions of core brain systems are …

Recent years have seen the publication of a range of new theories suggesting that the basis
of dyslexia might be sensory dysfunction. In this Opinion article, the evidence for and against …

The bouba/kiki effect—the association of the nonce word bouba with a round shape and kiki
with a spiky shape—is a type of correspondence between speech sounds and visual …

The development of reading depends on phonological awareness across all languages so
far studied. Languages vary in the consistency with which phonology is represented in …

Speeded visual word naming and lexical decision performance are reported for 2,428 words
for young adults and healthy older adults. Hierarchical regression techniques were used to …

Is there specialization for visual word recognition within the visual ventral stream of literate
human adults? We review the evidence for a specialized “visual word form area” and …

There have been several reports in the literature of faster visual lexical decisions to words
that are semantically ambiguous. All current models of this ambiguity advantage assume …

This book offers a general introduction to reaction time research as relevant to Second
Language Studies and explores a collection of tasks and paradigms that are often used in …

Writing allows people to convey information to others who are remote in time and space,
vastly increasing the range over which people can cooperate and the amount they can …

Literacy has many obvious benefits: it exposes the reader to a wealth of new information and
enhances syntactic knowledge. However, we argue that literacy has an additional, often …