Order of Fixation Effects in Classification of Word-Shape Pairs

Twelve undergraduate subjects classified the word-shape configurations circle/CIRCLE, square/SQUARE, circle/SQUARE and square/CIRCLE by reporting “yes” for a relationship of congruence, and “no” for a relationship of incongruence. The latency of initiation of these reports was recorded, measured from the simultaneous onset of the displays. The order in which the word and shape were inspected had consistent effects on the latency, times being shorter where the word was seen before the shape. The relevance of this finding to an account of the conversion operations involved in a word-shape comparison is discussed.