Final answer:
The two routes to word recognition in reading, direct versus indirect, refer to the whole-word approach and the letter-by-letter decoding method, respectively. The direct route entails recognizing words by visual representation, while the indirect route involves phonological decoding. The correct option for these routes is 'c. Whole-word; letter-by-letter'.
Step-by-step explanation:
The two routes to word recognition in reading, often referred to as direct versus indirect, essentially distinguish how individuals process written text to understand and retrieve its meaning. In the realm of cognitive psychology and education, these pathways are linked to specific strategies and mechanisms our brain employs during the act of reading.
Direct versus Indirect Routes
The direct route is typically known as sight-reading or the whole-word approach. It entails recognizing words by sight based on a visual representation of the whole word. This approach can be quicker as it bypasses the phonetic parsing of words. The indirect route, on the other hand, involves a more analytical process that includes decoding the phonological or sound aspects of the words and assembling these phonemes to form a word that has meaning.
Visual Encoding and Acoustic Encoding
Visual encoding and acoustic encoding are two cognitive strategies utilized in the indirect route of word recognition. Visual encoding relates to the formation of mental pictures or images of the words, which is particularly effective for high-imagery words. Acoustic encoding emphasizes the encoding of sound patterns and is used during the phonological processing of language.
Language Processing and Aphasia
In some instances, how individuals process language can be affected by cognitive or neurological impairments, such as aphasia. This illustrates the intricate link between language comprehension, word recognition, and cerebral architecture.
Answering the Question
The terms direct and indirect correspond to the mechanisms of word recognition that are visual versus phonological. In this context, the direct route relates to recognizing words as whole units based on their appearance, and the indirect route deciphers the constituent letters and associated sounds to eventually recognize the word. Therefore, the correct option is c. Whole-word; letter-by-letter, which implicates the direct route as recognizing whole words and the indirect route as synthesizing letter-by-letter information into pronounceable and understandable units.