Two Types of Phonological Alexia

It is hypothesized, on the basis of a lexical model of reading, that there are two different underlying causes of phonological alexia. It is predicted that these two types of phonological alexia will be accompanied by different sets of symptoms. Published cases of phonological alexia are examined for evidence in support of these predictions. Two distinct groups of phonological alexic patients are observed. These results support the notion of two types of phonological alexia. The failure to find any phonological alexic patients who do not fall into one of these two categories provides evidence against non-lexical reading models.