Spelling: Processes and strategies in print and computer formats.

Research addressing the role of format on spellers\u2019 abilities to recognize and correct errors has neglected to incorporate the variables of error type and strategic engagement in their studies. Thus, the three experiments in this dissertation examined the abilities of various types of spellers (above average, average, below average, and second language) across print and computer formats. The experiments introduced the role of attention as a factor in error blindness (i.e., inability to detect mistakes) for spelling recognition tasks, and the role of working memory in the graded quality of mental representations for spelling production tasks (i.e., correction of misspellings). In each experiment, spellers were randomly assigned to one of four counterbalanced groups. Spellers were asked to detect and correct misspelling for two essays in print and computer formats, identifying the spelling strategies applied. The studies compared word knowledge levels to error detection and correction abilities; attentional and working memory processes accounted for the influence of the type of error and format on spelling performance. Findings demonstrated inherent processing differences between spelling recognition and production processes and the masking effects of the application of strategies on spelling accuracy. Effects of error type in terms of saliency and clarity were found as phonological errors were easier to detect and correct, but morphological errors were more prone to error blindness regardless of the format. Spellers\u2019 quality of mental representations remained equally accessible due to their grounding in orthography. Format alone did not have an effect on accuracy, but did have an effect on strategic engagement. Format evidenced higher cognitive demands in the computer format and when spellers switched work from computer to print. These changes were explained by the operations of a modulatory mechanism that inhibits the kind of information to be processed in the graphemic buffer. It is concluded that language processing models ... can account for these findings by including the function of lexical strategies in reading and spelling tasks.\--P. ii-iii.