Data for "The Border Letter Advantage: Effects of Position in Visual Word Recognition in Arabic"

This study investigates whether the first letter advantage observed in Latin scripts extends to Arabic, a right-to-left, semi-cursive script with unique orthographic and morphological features. Previous research has demonstrated a robust first letter advantage in word recognition, where initial letters receive preferential processing. However, Arabic’s script characteristics, such as visually distinct final letters and its templatic root-based morphology, raise the possibility that final letters may also exhibit privileged processing. In a forced-choice word recognition task with 43 native Arabic speakers, participants identified briefly presented words with single letter substitutions at different positions. Results revealed a U-shaped pattern in reaction times and accuracy, with both the initial and final letters showing enhanced processing, unlike the linear trend typically observed in Latin scripts. These findings suggest that letter recognition in Arabic is influenced by script-specific features, with both the first and final letters playing a key role in word recognition. This challenges the universality of the first letter advantage and highlights the importance of script morphology and visual cues in reading processes across different writing systems.