The role of visual imagery in spelling.

Full Abstract

Current models of spelling posit that information from the orthographic output buffer can be translated into physical letter codes for written output or into name letter codes for spoken output. It is not known, at present, whether or not visualization of these codes is necessary to spell or recognize orally spelled words. We report a 73-year-old woman who could spell words better than she could image them and who demonstrated near flawless recognition of orally spelled words. We conclude that visual imagery is not necessary to either spell or recognize orally spelled words.

Author information

Author/s: Shuren, J E (JE); Maher, L M (LM); Heilman, K M (KM);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Ohio, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Case Reports; Journal Article

Journal: Brain and language (Brain Lang), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1996-Feb; vol 52 (issue 2) : pp 365-72

Dates: Created 1996/12/06; Completed 1996/12/06; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 8811968, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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