| Summary: | A prevalent assumption which underlies much cognitive theory is that the representational codes that correspond to the incidental features of a perceptual object are rectified, displaced, or otherwise ignored by the information processing system. This assumption is exemplified by the view, common in word recognition theory, that the physical characteristics of a printed word have minimal consequences for the reading process. In particular, the typeface in which a word appears is often thought to be of little relevance to verbal processing. The assumption is belied, however, by practice in graphic design, where the typeface of a printed word is considered an important contributor to the power of a printed message. Contingent on its typeface, a word is thought to possess a range of connotative qualities that can interact with responses to its linguistic content. This research was therefore conducted with a view to adjudicating between these two opposing positions. Experiments using a discrete-trials variant of the Stroop paradigm demonstrate that readers are indeed sensitive to the connotative dimensions of type, and that responses to a written word are inhibited when its connotative qualities are inconsistent with its denotative meaning. Further experiments confirm the obligatory nature of connotative processing and indicate that typeface constitutes a dissociable feature of a visually represented word. The results are accommodated within a dual-system model of cognitive processing and are related to current theory concerning the mechanisms which underlie the reading of printed English words.
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