Bacs the brussels artificial character sets for studies in cognitive psychology and neuroscience

Written symbols such as letters have been extensively used in cognitive psychology, be it to understand their contribution to written word recognition or to examine processes involved in other mental functions. Sometimes, however, researchers want to manipulate letters while removing their associated characteristics. A powerful solution to do so is to use new characters, devised to be highly similar to letters, but without associated sound or name. Given the growing use of artificial characters in experimental paradigms, the aim of the present study was to make available the Brussels Artificial Character Sets (BACS), two full, strictly controlled, and portable sets of artificial characters for a broad range of experimental situations.