Individual differences in the size of orthographic effects in spoken word recognition: The role of listeners' orthographic skills

The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the extent to which orthography affects spoken word recognition in literate adults is related to their spelling proficiency. The study included two components: an auditory lexical decision task manipulating orthographic consistency of the stimuli and a spelling test. The results replicated previously found effects of orthographic consistency on the accuracy and latency of lexical decisions. The size of the orthographic effect in the auditory task was estimated for each participant. The variability in the orthographic effect size among participants was partially explained by their spelling skills. Possible interpretations of this finding and methodological implications for future research are discussed.