Is VIRTU4L Larger Than VIR7UAL?: automatic processing of number quantity and lexical representations in leet words

Abstract

Recent research has shown that leet words (i.e., words in which some of the letters are replaced by visually similar digits; e.g., VIRTU4L) can be processed as their base words without much cost. However, it remains unclear whether the digits inserted in leet words are simply processed as letters or whether they are simultaneously processed as numbers (i.e., in terms of access to their quantity representation). To address this question, we conducted two experiments that examined the size congruity effect (i.e., when comparisons of the physical size of numbers are affected by their numerical magnitudes) in a physical-size judgment task. Participants were presented with pairs of leet words that were nominally identical except for the embedded digit (e.g., VIR7UAL-VIRTU4L) and were asked to decide as quickly and accurately as possible which word in the pair appeared in a bigger font. In Experiment 1, we examined the congruity effect (congruent: VIRTU4L-VIR7UAL vs. incongruent: VIR7UAL-VIRTU4L vs. neutral: VIR7UAL- VIR7UAL) and the numerical distance effect (distance 1: PAN3L-P4NEL vs. distance 3: VIRTU4L-VIR7UAL). To examine whether the meaning of these words was accessed, we also manipulated word frequency (i.e., a marker of lexical access) in Experiment 2. Results revealed effects of congruity, distance, and word frequency, thus suggesting automatic access to both number quantity and word representations for leet words. These findings favor multidimensional accounts of number/word recognition.