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REVIEW article

Front. Lang. Sci.
Sec. Psycholinguistics
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/flang.2025.1504770

What do pseudowords tell us about word processing? An overview

Provisionally accepted
Celia Martínez Tomás Celia Martínez Tomás 1,2Ana Baciero Ana Baciero 1,2Miguel Lázaro Miguel Lázaro 2José Antonio Hinojosa José Antonio Hinojosa 1,2,3*
  • 1 Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  • 2 Dpto. de Psicología Experimental, Procesos Cognitivos y Logopedia, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
  • 3 Centro de Ciencia Cognitiva - C3, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid, Spain, Madrid, Asturias, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This article provides an overview of the use of pseudowords-letter strings that resemble real words by adhering to phonotactic and orthotactic rules (e.g., fambo follows the rules of English phonology and orthography, but it does not have an actual meaning)-in written word processing research, with a focus on readers in alphabetic languages. We review how pseudowords have been used in research to isolate specific features of words to examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying various aspects of their processing, including orthographic, phonological decoding, lexical-semantic, and syntactic components, as well as to the way those empirical observations have shaped theories and models of word recognition. The overview also considers their broader applications, such as in studying nonalphabetic scripts, speech processing, and language disorders like dyslexia. By providing a focused synthesis of empirical findings, this article underscores the critical insights that research using pseudowords offers into the interconnected nature of cognitive mechanisms in language processing.

    Keywords: pseudowords, word recognition, orthography, print-to-sound, semantics, syntax

    Received: 01 Oct 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Martínez Tomás, Baciero, Lázaro and Hinojosa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: José Antonio Hinojosa, Dpto. de Psicología Experimental, Procesos Cognitivos y Logopedia, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.