Optimal viewing position of partially connected and unconnected words in Arabic

In order to assess the unique reading processes in Arabic, given its unique orthographic nature of natural inherent variations of inter-letter spacing, the current study examined the extent and influence of connectedness disparity during single word recognition using the optimal viewing position (OVP) paradigm. The initial word viewing position was systematically manipulated by shifting words horizontally relative to an imposed initial viewing position. However, unlike previous research, partially connected/unconnected three-, four- and five-letter Arabic words were displayed in the left and right visual hemifields at all possible locations of letter fixation. It was found that OVP effects occurred during the processing of isolated Arabic words. No OVP was found in three-letter words; for four- and five-letter words, the OVP effect appeared as a U-shaped curve with a minimum towards the second and third letters. Thus, the OVP effects generalize across structurally different alphabetic scripts. Furthermore, a perceptual superiority was found for words with right-positioned unconnected sub-units as compared to left positioned unconnected sub-units because of the differential sensitivity of the hemispheres to the gestalt form of letters. Such findings support the established view that the LH specializes in word recognition for alphabetic languages.