of　word families defined by a shared root (Frost et al., 1997). In this case,extracting the root letters from the printed word would be the initial　step in Hebrew visual word recognition. Two main experimental paradigms

serve for the purpose of examining morphological processing of printed　words: Masked priming, and parafoveal preview benefit. In masked priming a pattern mask is presented before the prime, with a very brief temporal　interval between the onset of the priming stimulus and the subsequent target stimulus. Thus the prime itself is unavailable for report. In the　parafoveal preview benefit paradigm, the benefit of information 

perceived　in the parafovea before the eyes actually land on a target word is　measured. The comparison between masked priming and parafoveal preview benefit effects is compelling because both paradigms tap early processes　of word recognition, and both are relatively free of strategic　effects. This is because in both paradigms readers are unable to　consciously identify the initially presented stimulus. Results obtained using both procedures in parallel reveal that Hebrew readers decompose printed words into their morphemic constituents and use the root　information for lexical access.