Effects of word familiarity and phoneme-grapheme polygraphy on oral spelling time and accuracy

The predictions of parallel dual-route models of spelling were tested using oral spelling time and accuracy. Subjective polygraphy (transparency of phoneme-grapheme mappings) was estimated from the pseudoword spellings of 42 college students. Subjective polygraphy was found to differ from a measure of objective polygraphy based on how words are actually spelled in English. A separate group of 40 college students spelled 36 words differing on familiarity and polygraphy. Low familiarity words were more difficult to spell than high familiarity words, and high polygraphy words were generally harder to spell than low polygraphy words. Several analyses suggested an interaction between polygraphy and familiarity. The design was replicated on another sample of 19 college students with a wider range of words. The results were generally consistent with a parallel-interactive model of spelling.