Compared letter vs word and word vs nonword identification with redundancy adequately controlled in 2 experiments with 4 undergraduates in each. The processing time of the test stimulus was varied to provide a number of levels of correct performance. Exp I showed that letters were recognized better when presented alone than when embedded in words. In Exp II the identification of letters in words did not differ from the identification of letters in nonwords. Results conflict with earlier findings which show that a letter is better identified in a word than in a nonword or presented alone. Differences in the experimental procedures indicate either that redundancy was not adequately controlled in the earlier studies or that some other process besides a perceptual one might account for the results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)