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All leading models of visual word recognition assume a hierarchical process that progressively converts the visual input into abstract letter and word representations. However, the results from recent behavioral studies suggest that the mental representations of words with a highly consistent visual format, such as logotypes, may comprise not only purely abstract information but also perceptual information. This hypothesis would explain why participants often misperceive transposed-letter misspellings with the original base words to a larger degree in logotypes (e.g., SASMUNG, but not SARVUNG, is perceived as SAMSUNG) than in common words. The present experiment examined the electrophysiological signature behind the identification of correctly spelled and misspelled logotypes (via letter transposition or replacement) in an ERP go/no-go semantic categorization experiment. Results showed that N400 amplitudes for transposed-letter misspelled logotypes (SASMUNG) and intact logotypes (SAMSUNG) did not differ significantly across various time windows (until 600 ms), whereas replacement-letter misspelled logotypes (SARVUNG) yielded consistently larger N400 amplitudes. These findings reveal that the mental representations of logotypes are particularly resistant to minor orthographic changes, which has important theoretical and applied (e.g., marketing) implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Look-Alike, Sound-Alike (LASA) drugs pose significant risks to patient safety due to potential medication errors, primarily from confusion over drug names. Such issues are of global concern and are pervasive across healthcare settings. Objective: This study evaluated the similarity between the registered brand names of medication, specifically focusing on tablets and capsules that are commercially accessible in Thailand. Methods: This research analyzed secondary data from Thailand's Bureau of Drug Administration, focusing on tablets and capsules drugs. An orthographic analysis of the 18,108 registered items (as of January 2020) was performed, and similarities and differences were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Attributes such as registration number, manufacturer details, active ingredients, dosage forms, and strength were considered when categorizing similar names. Results: Upon analyzing 18,108 registered tablets and capsules, four groups emerged from pairwise brand name similarity analysis: 1. Matching brand names from one pharmaceutical company with identical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) but multiple registration numbers (66.47%). 2. Matching brand names from various pharmaceutical companies with the same active ingredients (33.03%). 3. Matching brand names from different pharmaceutical companies with different active ingredients (0.39%). 4. Matching brand names from the same pharmaceutical company with different active ingredients (0.11%). The "Tall Man Letter" principle was leveraged to examine potential resemblances among 18,108 Thai pharmaceutical brand names. Twelve terms exhibited notable similarities, with "AMINE," "HYDRO," and "PREDNIS" appearing most frequently. Conclusion: These results underscore the prevalence of LASA issues in drug brand names, potentially leading to confusion and errors in medication use, and highlight the need for system improvements to enhance patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract All leading models of visual word recognition assume a hierarchical process that progressively converts the visual input into abstract letter and word representations. However, the results from recent behavioral studies suggest that the mental representations of words with a highly consistent visual format, such as logotypes, may comprise not only purely abstract information but also perceptual information. This hypothesis would explain why participants often misperceive transposed-letter misspellings with the original base words to a larger degree in logotypes (e.g., SASMUNG, but not SARVUNG, is perceived as SAMSUNG) than in common words. The present experiment examined the electrophysiological signature behind the identification of correctly spelled and misspelled logotypes (via letter transposition or replacement) in an ERP go/no-go semantic categorization experiment. Results showed that N400 amplitudes for transposed-letter misspelled logotypes (SASMUNG) and intact logotypes (SAMSUNG) did not differ significantly across various time windows (until 600 ms), whereas replacement-letter misspelled logotypes (SARVUNG) yielded consistently larger N400 amplitudes. These findings reveal that the mental representations of logotypes are particularly resistant to minor orthographic changes, which has important theoretical and applied (e.g., marketing) implications.

The translatability of shop names constitutes a problem for translation students. To find out the status of shop name translation in Saudi Arabia, a sample of 271 shop names (clothing, accessories, beauty products, restaurants, cafes... etc.) was collected and analyzed to find out which shop names are translated, which ones are not, and which ones should be translated and to set some guidelines for shop-name translation. Results showed that 24% of the shops have pure Arabic names, 25% have international brand names (Starbucks, Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Monsoon, Zara, Sony); 39% have local English names (أوبريشن فلافل Operation Falafel, Brand Center براند سنتر, بيبي شوب Baby Shop); and 12% mixed names (Arabic + foreign). Only 6.7% of all shop names are fully translated (العربية للعود Arabian Oud; الركن السويسري Swiss Corner; الشمس والرمال للرياضة Sun & Sand Sports; Seven Degree Café 3,3%; (مقهى ٧ درجات are partially translated (Cotton Home قطن هوم; ماما بطاطا Mama Batata; JORI COFFEE الجوري كوفي) and 90% are transliterated using Arabic letters (Bershka بيرشكا, MANGO مانجو, كامايو Camaieu). Many shop names are transliterated, although they are translatable, are difficult to decode as the grapheme sequence does not fit the Arabic graphological system (Dr Nutrition دكتور نيوتريشن & Natural Touch تاتش ناتشرال). It was recommended that Franchised International brand names such as Debenhams & Samsung cannot be translated but transliterated. Some foreign shop names can be fully or partially translated rather than transliterated (Dr Nutrition< دكتور التغذية; Natural Touch< اللمسة الطبيعية; Red Sea Mall< مول البحر الأحمر). The Arabic version is for Arab shoppers who do not know English and the English version is for foreigners. Shop names containing café, chocolate, garden and others can be partially translated (Caribou Café مقهى كاريبو; Atayf Garden حديقة أطياف). French and Italian shop names should be transliterated according to their pronunciation in the source language, not in English (Parfois بارفواه, not بارفويس). The word order in compounds should be correct, and the vowels, diphthongs and consonants should be transcribed accurately. The transliteration should be consistent for all shop branches. Further recommendations are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstractionist models of visual word recognition can easily accommodate the absence of visual similarity effects in misspelled common words (e.g., viotin vs. viocin) during lexical decision tasks. However, these models fail to account for the sizable effects of visual similarity observed in misspelled brand names (e.g., anazon produces longer responses and more errors than atazon). Importantly, this dissociation has only been reported in separate experiments. Thus, a crucial experiment is necessary to simultaneously examine the role of visual similarity with misspelled common words and brand names. In the current experiment, participants performed a lexical decision task using both brand names and common words. Nonword foils were created by replacing visually similar letters (e.g., anazon [baseword: amazon], anarilllo [amarillo, yellow]) or visually dissimilar letters (e.g., atazon, atarillo). Results showed sizeable visual letter similarity effects for misspelled brand names in response times and percent error. Critically, these effects were absent for misspelled common words. The pervasiveness of visual similarity effects for misspelled brand names, even in the presence of common words, challenges purely abstractionist accounts of visual word recognition. Instead, these findings support instance-based and weakly abstractionist theories, suggesting that episodic traces in the mental lexicon may retain perceptual information, particularly when words are repeatedly presented in a similar format.

Brand names are assets in marketing: a good name can help to sell products. Although research has made several recommendations on how “good” brand names should be created, the complex process is not easily adapted to every product category. Little research is done on a particular product category: the brand names of vaccines. This paper contributes to vaccine brand names in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The theoretical part of the paper first describes the characteristics of “good” and “bad” brand names, and then the focus is narrowed down to the characteristics of drug brand names and to the processes that influenced the naming of coronavirus vaccines. In the empirical part of the paper, Hungarian students perform brand recognition, recall, and association tasks connected to vaccine brand names. It will be shown that the vaccines are known by their public brand names (e.g., Pfizer) and not by their actual brand names (e.g., Comirnaty). The rating of the brand names shows that public brand names are considered to be better than the actual brand names, while brand associations collected for the actual brand names show mixed results. In the last part of the paper, theoretical implications are discussed, and recommendations for pharmaceutical companies are formulated to show what steps these companies could take to overcome the impasse between public and actual brand names.

Abstractionist models of visual word recognition can easily accommodate the absence of visual similarity effects in misspelled common words (e.g., viotin vs. viocin ) during lexical decision tasks. However, these models fail to account for the sizable effects of visual similarity observed in misspelled brand names (e.g., anazon produces longer responses and more errors than atazon ). Importantly, this dissociation has only been reported in separate experiments. Thus, a crucial experiment is necessary to simultaneously examine the role of visual similarity with misspelled common words and brand names. In the current experiment, participants performed a lexical decision task using both brand names and common words. Nonword foils were created by replacing visually similar letters (e.g., anazon [baseword: amazon ], anarilllo [amarillo, yellow]) or visually dissimilar letters (e.g., atazon, atarillo ). Results showed sizeable visual letter similarity effects for misspelled brand names in response times and percent error. Critically, these effects were absent for misspelled common words. The pervasiveness of visual similarity effects for misspelled brand names, even in the presence of common words, challenges purely abstractionist accounts of visual word recognition. Instead, these findings support instance-based and weakly abstractionist theories, suggesting that episodic traces in the mental lexicon may retain perceptual information, particularly when words are repeatedly presented in a similar format., Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s).)