Abstract graphemic representations support preparation of handwritten responses

Some evidence suggests that the written production of single words involves not only the ordered retrieval of individual letters, but that abstract, higher-level linguistic properties of the words also influence responses. We report five experiments using the “implicit priming” task adopted from the spoken domain to investigate response preparation of written responses. The first three experiments demonstrate a priming effect due to shared graphemes which is independent of phonological overlap. Two further experiments show that the priming effect is largely immune to allographic variation, but that it disappears when overlapping word-initial letters are embedded within different graphemes. In combination, the results suggest that preparation of handwritten word production involves an abstract graphemic level of representation, mediating between the retrieval of orthographic word forms and individual letters.

► Written word production can be primed when word-initial orthographic units overlap.
► Such benefit can be obtained even when allographic form is unpredictable.
► Graphemes constitute abstract processing units.
► Orthographic (but not phonological) overlap alone can prime.
► Facilitation with written responses is purely based on orthographic variables.