The Role of Morphological Structure in Determining the Optimal Viewing Position During Visual Word Recognition in Beginning Readers

Background/Objectives: The present study examines the role of morphemic units in the initial word recognition stage among beginning readers. We assess whether and to what extent sublexical units, such as morphemes, are used in processing French words and how their use varies with reading proficiency. Methods: Two experiments were conducted to investigate the perceptual and morphological effects on the recognition of words presented in central vision, using a variable-viewing-position technique. To explore changes during elementary school years, we tested children from the second and fourth grades, as well as adult readers. Results: The percentage of correct word identification was highest near the center of the word, indicating an optimal viewing position for all three participant groups. Viewing position effects were modulated by age and the properties of the stimuli (length and morphological structure). Experiment 1 demonstrated that lexical decisions are influenced by morphological structure to a decreasing extent as reading skill develops. Experiment 2 revealed that morphological processing in children primarily relies on the orthographic information provided by morphemes (surface morphology), whereas proficient readers process morphological information at a more abstract level, exhibiting a genuine morphological-facilitation effect. Conclusions: Overall, our study strongly indicates that morphemic units play a crucial role in the initial stage of word identification in early reading development. This conclusion aligns with the “word and affix” model, which posits that morphological representations become increasingly independent of orthography as reading ability and word exposure improve.