Is there a visual dyslexia

Traditionally, it has been speculated that weaknesses in the visual processing of cognitive aspects of the written word could lead to reading problems, and if so, such a condition would constitute a subtype of developmental dyslexia. This putative subtype has been referred to as visual dyslexia. In this article, the role of cognitive deficits that are visual in nature as a potential etiological factor of developmental dyslexia is examined. Following a brief history of the study of dyslexia, a critique of studies of visual dyslexia is presented. Subsequently, the nature of the visual processes involved in word- recognition is examined. Finally, three research studies that assessed the contribution of visual memory to word-recognition are presented. It is concluded that, even though defects in the physiological aspects of visual processing can lead to reading difficulties, at present little convincing evidence is available to conclude that a subtype of dyslexia caused by cognitive deficits associated with visual processing of information exists.     

Basic auditory processing and developmental dyslexia in Chinese

The present study explores the relationship between basic auditory processing of sound rise time, frequency, duration and intensity, phonological skills (onset-rime and tone awareness, sound blending, RAN, and phonological memory) and reading disability in Chinese. A series of psychometric, literacy, phonological, auditory, and character processing tasks were given to 73 native speakers of Mandarin with an average age of 9.7 years. Twenty-six children had developmental dyslexia, 29 were chronological age-matched controls (CA controls) and 18 were reading-matched controls (RL controls). Chinese children with dyslexia were significantly poorer than CA controls in almost all phonological tasks, in semantic radical search, and in phonological recoding proficiency. Chinese children with dyslexia also showed significant impairments in most of the basic auditory processing tasks. Regression analyses demonstrated that different auditory measures of rise time discrimination were the strongest predictors of individual differences in Chinese character reading (1 Rise task) and phonological recoding (2 Rise task) respectively, with frequency discrimination also important for nonsense syllable decoding. Our results support the hypothesis that accurate perception of the amplitude envelope of speech is critical for phonological development and consequently reading acquisition across languages.     

Developmental dyslexia: exploring how much phonological and visual attention span disorders are linked to simultaneous auditory processing deficits

The simultaneous auditory processing skills of 17 dyslexic children and 17 skilled readers were measured using a dichotic listening task. Results showed that the dyslexic children exhibited difficulties reporting syllabic material when presented simultaneously. As a measure of simultaneous visual processing, visual attention span skills were assessed in the dyslexic children. We presented the dyslexic children with a phonological short-term memory task and a phonemic awareness task to quantify their phonological skills. Visual attention spans correlated positively with individual scores obtained on the dichotic listening task while phonological skills did not correlate with either dichotic scores or visual attention span measures. Moreover, all the dyslexic children with a dichotic listening deficit showed a simultaneous visual processing deficit, and a substantial number of dyslexic children exhibited phonological processing deficits whether or not they exhibited low dichotic listening scores. These findings suggest that processing simultaneous auditory stimuli may be impaired in dyslexic children regardless of phonological processing difficulties and be linked to similar problems in the visual modality.     

Memory performance of children with dyslexia: a comparative analysis of theoretical perspectives

This study examined the memory performance of children with reading disabilities (RD) using methodology representative of three theoretical perspectives on RD subtypes: the phonological deficit, dual route, and phonological-core variable-difference models. Analyses compared the serial memory, verbal learning, and abstract visual-spatial memory performance of 45 children with RD to that of chronological-age (CA)- and reading-level (RL)-matched controls, using subtype identification methods from each of the theoretical models to classify children with RD. Phonological deficit and dual route comparisons indicated that children with RD, regardless of subtype, performed more poorly than CA- and better than RL-matched participants on all memory tasks. Phonological-core variable-difference methodology yielded three RD subtypes, two of which exhibited distinctive memory deficits relative to both CA and RL control groups. The phonological-core variable-difference model accounted for more variance in memory performance than either of the other two models.     

Impaired visual attention in children with dyslexia

Reading involves the correct and rapid identification of visual stimuli with letters and words. The processing of visual stimuli depends not only on the integrity of the peripheral and central visual system but also on the attentional systems involved. In the present study, a cue-target visual attention task was administered to a population-based sample of 25 children with dyslexia from 10 to 12 years of age. A control group matched for group size, age, and gender was obtained from the same general population. A two-stage screening process involved a spelling task of regular words followed by a battery of five single-word reading tasks. The cue-target task involved both a computer-controlled stimulus presentation and a computer-controlled measurement of reaction time. The data were analyzed by visual field, cue condition (valid, invalid, and no cue), and cue-target interval (CTI). The results showed a general pattern of slower responses in the dyslexia group compared to the control group. The dyslexia group also had longer reaction times in the short CTI condition (covert shift of attention) and in the long CTI condition (overt shift of attention). The findings may reflect a general attentional deficit to visual stimuli in dyslexia, possibly related to problems with the recruitment of necessary cognitive resources for the performance of complex reaction time tasks and for fluent reading.     

The possible relationship between visual deficits and dyslexia: examination of a critical assumption

Numerous studies have found that visual deficits are associated with dyslexia. The prevailing theory regarding this association is that dyslexia is the result of a deficit in the magnocellular system (earlier called the transient system) in the visual pathway. An essential assumption of this theory is that the parvocellular system (formerly called the sustained system) is suppressed by the magnocellular system at the time of saccadic eye movements. This assumption is examined on the basis of published studies of saccadic suppression. The evidence from six studies indicates quite unequivocally that the magnocellular system, not the parvocellular system, is suppressed during saccadic eye movements. It seems, therefore, that an essential premise of the magnocellular deficit theory of dyslexia is incorrect.     

Ranking academic departments: Empirical findings and a theoretical perspective

Evaluations of academic departments through peer review rankings have assumed importance in decision making by government officials, university administrators, and department chairpersons. This article reviews the history of these highly publicized rankings and subsequent attempts to identify empirical correlates of the ratings. New findings are presented which indicate that the ACE rankings can be predicted almost perfectly (r=.91) with one measure—departmental rate of publication in highly cited journals. The implications of this finding are discussed, since it both supports the notion of peer rankings but also reveals some inherent weaknesses in the academic assessment process. Finally, it is suggested that concepts from social stratification theory can illuminate our understanding of evaluation in higher education.     

Regularisation of nonwords in dyslexia: contributions of visual orthographic and phonological onsets

This study investigated the contributions of visual orthographic (analogy) and phonological processes in mediating nonword reading in children with dyslexia. Three groups of primary school age children (n=15 in each group) were recruited. The first group were children with dyslexia (mean age 11 years 3 months, mean reading age 8 years 3 months), the second group were chronological age controls (mean age 11 years 3 months, mean reading age 11 years 8 months) and the third group were reading age matched controls (mean age 7 years 11 months, mean reading age 8 years 3 months). All participants were required to read aloud a list of nonwords. Nonwords in the list were derived from paired regular and irregular keywords in which onsets were manipulated to be either phonologically or visually similar to keyword onsets. ANOVAs revealed firstly that children with dyslexia were the least likely to regularise nonword pronunciation and secondly, that all groups displayed an overall preference for words that were phonologically manipulated. These findings have been interpreted within the context of dual‐route theory.     

Interventions for dyslexia in Brazil: a scoping review discussed within the perspective of international best practice

ABSTRACT

Reading success has a significant impact on social, academic and vocational engagement. While there have been many advances in Brazilian educational policy, and a reduction in rates of absolute illiteracy, low levels of literacy continue to be a significant area of concern. We aimed to scope the literature to identify the types of intervention researched in Brazil for people with developmental dyslexia; map the findings to international theories of dyslexia and draw on these findings to inform future clinical practice and research. Four databases were searched and a total of 13 studies met eligibility criteria. Four key themes were identified: (1) phonological-based intervention, reading and writing; (2) intervention using computerised technology; (3) auditory processing training and (4) training of visuomotor skills. Whilst most interventions were in keeping with current international theory, a number of methodological issues were identified which, if addressed, would strengthen future research and inform clinical practice in Brazil.     

Phonology,reading development,and dyslexia: A cross-linguistic perspective

In this paper, I present a theoretical overview at the cognitive level of the role of phonological awareness in reading development and developmental dyslexia across languages. My assumption is that the primary deficit in developmental dyslexia in all languages lies in representing speech sounds: a deficit in “phonological representation.” I will argue that this deficit manifests in somewhat different ways, depending on orthography. I will also argue that the phonological deficit in dyslexia is initially at the syllable and onset-rime levels of phonological awareness, with the development of “phonemic” awareness being a consequence rather than a precursor of reading. Finally, I will suggest that some of the processes underpinning language acquisition are disrupted in dyslexia, in particular, the detection of rhythm in speech.     

An interaction-dominant perspective on reading fluency and dyslexia

The background noise of response times is often overlooked in scientific inquiries of cognitive performances. However, it is becoming widely acknowledged in psychology, medicine, physiology, physics, and beyond that temporal patterns of variability constitute a rich source of information. Here, we introduce two complexity measures (1/f scaling and recurrence quantification analysis) that employ background noise as metrics of reading fluency. These measures gauge the extent of interdependence across, rather than within, cognitive components. In this study, we investigated dyslexic and non-dyslexic word-naming performance in beginning readers and observed that these complexity metrics differentiate reliably between dyslexic and average response times and correlate strongly with the severity of the reading impairment. The direction of change in the introduced metrics suggests that developmental dyslexia resides from dynamical instabilities in the coordination among the many components necessary to read, which could explain why dyslexic readers score below average on so many distinct tasks and modalities.     

Monopolising the examining board system in England: a theoretical perspective in support of reform

The fiascoes that seem to accompany the annual publication of examination results in England, the subsequent inquiries instituted to ensure they ‘never happen again’ and the Secretary of State’s decision, reversed six months later because of fears about possible EU legal challenges, to ‘end competition between exam boards’ raise some interesting issues about the way Examination Boards (or ‘Awarding Bodies’) operate in what is partly a competitive and partly a cooperative market. At the operational level, they need to make sufficient profit from the fees they charge schools to operate the assessment and awards system effectively; at the strategic level, they need to police the proliferation of awards so that some reasonable level of efficiency is obtained in the system. This paper models the education awards market such that the implications of the various alternative strategies for achieving the twin objectives of effectiveness and efficiency can be understood. It describes how Awarding Bodies cooperate and compete to maximise profit, and justifies the original decision in September 2012 by minister Gove to create a monopoly in the awards and assessment market.     

Developing an ambivalence perspective on medical labelling in education: case dyslexia

There are several social actors involved in the process of constructing the social meaning of dyslexia—namely, parents, teachers, educational authorities and organisations representing dyslectics. Some of these actors emphasise the constructive social powers related to the dyslexia label, while others perceive dyslexia as diagnostic reasoning counter productive to the learning processes. In the discussion of this paradox, this article uses sociological medicalisation theory as a provider of perspectives on medical labelling as contested, and on how the labelling process is socially structured. Empirically, the article is based on four studies in Scandinavia of the construction of dyslexia in different social settings, such as individual life stories, parent stories, educational politics and the legal system. The medicalisation perspective is found most useful for the understanding of undesirable effects. To understand reported experience of medical labelling as empowering, other sociological perspectives are more useful.     

Bihemifield visual stimulation reveals reduced lateral bias in dyslexia

Orton (1936) observed that dyslexic readers display not only obvious linguistic processing errors, but also diminished lateralized specialization of other cerebral hemispheric functions. To explore his “intergrading” hypothesis, six developmental dyslexics (DDs) and a group of good readers (GRs) were tested on measures of interhemispheric coordination. All subjects (ages 16 to 47) demonstrated normal oculomotor control and visual acuity prior to testing. Subjects were instructed to track three different point-light source patterns, (single stimulus in one hemifield, dual stimuli in one hemifield and a pair of simultaneous, symmetric, bihemifield stimuli [SSBS]), presented in random sequence and arrayed horizontally at ±5, ±10, and ±15 degrees eccentricity. Tested with unihemifield stimuli, all subjects showed normal saccadic latencies and trajectories. In response to SSBS, all GRs showed pronounced directional preference, choosing largely to track one side over the other. DDs showed reduced laterality bias (p<.025). DDs showed significantly longer response latencies to SSBS than to unihemifield stimulation (p<.01) and differed significantly from GRs (p<.05).     

Teacher Education and the Integration of Technology: a reading and language arts perspective

ABSTRACT

Teachers are increasingly expected to employ integrated technology practices in their classrooms to help students learn more, better, faster and cheaper. Unfortunately, teachers generally have not been provided education or training on how to employ these technology practices. Attempting to get integrated technology practices into pre‐service and in‐service teacher education, especially in reading and language arts, is at the core of this article. An overview of technology integration is provided along with discussions about: (a) goals and content for teacher education courses or training, (b) research on integrating technology into reading and language arts education, (c) integration without education and training, and finally (d) issues that affect integration.     

The instructional message: A theoretical perspective

This article presents a theoretical model for message design proved capable of improving the quality of instruction while increasing cost effectiveness. Integrating classical rhetoric, information theory, contemporary media criticism, social psychology, and the psychology of human information processing, the model directs the designer to design a block of time that optimizes the information load and message complexity within the constraints of the receiver’s abilities and experience, the requirements of the source, and the capabilities and limitations of the medium.     

Religious education as a research discipline: an activity theoretical perspective

This article raises the question of how to conceive of religious education as a research discipline. The theory of activity systems is used in an analysis of the relationship between theory and practice, the systems of research and the systems of school. The author argues for a dialectical relationship between research and school practice, where understandings of school practice may enable theoretical expansion and where the language used in the field of research may give renewed understanding to the field of practice.