It is a well-known observation that when a
Kanji character is viewed steadily and continuously, the viewer often becomes unable to recognize the
Kanji as a whole pattern and it becomes difficult to judge whether or not the
Kanji is orthographically correct. Such a phenomenon is called the “Gestaltzerfall” of
Kanji characters. In the present study, two experiments were carried out to examine delays in the recognition of test
Kanji following 25 s of prolonged viewing of adaptation
Kanji, which were comprised of either the same or different parts and structures. When the size of the adaptation
Kanji was equal to that of the test
Kanji, there were significant delays of more than 50 ms, both when the stimuli were of the same pattern, and when they had the same structure but different components. However, when their sizes were different, delays were found only when the test and the adaptation
Kanji were of the same pattern. These results suggest that a
Kanji pattern may be internally represented as a whole, independent of its size, while the processing of
Kanji structure may be dependent upon its size. Prolonged viewing may produce an adaptation effect specific to such representations.
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