REPRESENTATIONAL PROCESSES IN COMPREHENSION OF PRINTED WORDS.

Three studies of the latency of response initiation for complex classifications of the word-shape configurations Circle/CIRCLE, square/SQUARE, square/CIRCLE and circle/SQUARE are reported. Delays in response initiation, attributable to discrepancy between the display components, or the order of reporting identities and congruence, or alterations in the processing demands imposed on the subject, were analysed with the aim of formulating some conclusions about the nature of the representational processes involved when a printed word is read with comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]