A reading-level match study of phonemic processes underlying reading disabilities in a transparent orthography

The current study examined the relationship in Spanish (i.e., a transparent orthography) between different levels of phonological awareness and reading disabilities. In addition, the strategies used by the children when they resolved phoneme segmentation and reversal tasks were analyzed. A sample of 133 subjects were selected and organized in three different groups: (1) A group of 45 reading-disabled children, (2) A comparison group of 44 normal readers matched in age with the reading disabled, and (3) A reading level match group of 44 younger normal readers at the same reading level as the reading disabled. Three phonological awareness tasks were used to measure levels of intrasyllabic and phonemic awareness. The reading disabled group was equivalent to the younger reading level-matched control group in the odd-word-out task. However, there were differences in the phonemic tasks (e.g., phoneme segmentation and reversal) because the reading disabled group performed more poorly than the younger children. Overall, the children matched in age with the reading disabled group were superior in all phonological awareness tasks. There were differences between the groups when the strategies used by the children were analyzed.     

A definition of dyslexia

This paper elaborates on the components of a working definition of developmental dyslexia. It follows the general format of a paper by Lyon published in Annals of Dyslexia in 1995, which elaborated on a working definition proposed in 1994 (Lyon, 1995). The current definition agreed on by the work group updates and expands on the working definition from 1994.     

Neuropsychological intervention in dyslexia: two studies on British pupils

The theoretical context of this research is developmental neuropsychology--in particular, the educational implications for the classification of and intervention in specific developmental dyslexia (SDD). Controlled and validated research can help identify optimal teaching methods for groups and individuals. Within this framework, neuropsychological theory can be explored as a medium for improving intervention for pupils with SDD. Neuropsychological stimulation cannot change the macro aspects of the brain but can change its "finetuning" and its response to written text. Within the psycho-neurological approaches, Bakker (1979, 1990, 1998) developed both a diagnostic procedure and empirically investigated intervention procedures. The theory rests on the Balance Model of learning to read, in which differential hemisphere involvement is implicated in beginning and advanced reading. Intervention can take place via hemisphere-specific stimulation using visual or tactile stimulation or hemisphere-alluding stimulation using modified text. Two investigations are presented, one experimental and another clinical. The results support the validity of dyslexia subtyping and the effectiveness of the treatment methods.     

Research on audio-tutorial instruction: A meta-analysis of comparative studies

The present article describes a statistical synthesis of results from 48 comparative studies of an innovative method of college teaching, Postlethwait's Audio-Tutorial or A-T approach. The analysis showed that in general A-T instruction has a significant but small overall effect on student achievement in college courses, and it has no significant effect on student course evaluations or on course completions. Findings were similar for well-designed and less-well-designed studies included in this analysis, and they were also similar for studies carried out at different types of schools and in different subject areas. Results reported in journals, however, were more favorable to A-T than results found in dissertations and other unpublished reports.     

对排球比赛中拦网技术的训练学研究

本文主要对拦网技术的基本功及实战训练方法进行研究,从而为拦网技术的教学和训练提供更有价值的建议。     

A clinical model for treatment of dyslexia

Children with moderate learning disabilities often fail to qualify for special education programs in public schools, but are ill-suited for placement in private schools concerned with the severely disabled. Parents of such children may place their hopes in the promises of private teachers or clinics. Yet the quality of services provided in the private sector varies widely. This paper describes a model program against which parents and private service providers can measure the strengths and weaknesses of the programs they are concerned with. The model places special emphasis on thorough evaluation, frequent reevaluation, staff accountability, program flexibility, and recognition of the parents’ role in the child’s education.     

Developmental dyslexia: A review of biological interactions

The discovery of biological substrates underlying medical conditions is an important step for their better understanding and for the design of appropriate medical therapies. In the case of developmental dyslexia pedagogic treatment may fail, thus creating a group of individuals in whom medical approaches may be entertained. The biological substrate(s) of developmental dyslexia has yet to be specified, although a few clues are beginning to emerge. In this review I consider the issue of cerebral dominance and brain asymmetry, the development of the cerebral cortex and examples of aberrancy, and diseases of the immune system, all of which relate to recent anatomical and epidemiological findings in developmental dyslexia. These discoveries have been able to lead to the creation of testable hypotheses which, after appropriate experimental work, are apt to enhance our current understanding of this and other developmental learning disorders.     

A technique for group screening of dyslexia among adults

This paper reports on the development of a battery of phonological processing tasks to screen adults with dyslexia. The battery consisted of tasks tapping reversed spoonerism, phonological choice, working memory, and vocabulary with confusable alternatives. A self-report questionnaire consisting of two scales, one examining symptoms of dyslexia and the other reading interests, was also constructed. All these tasks showed high discrimination between a group of adults with dyslexia and a control group, all recruited from adult education centers. The tasks also correlated highly with word recognition. The results of the study show that it is possible to develop a sensitive battery of “nonvocalized” tasks to screen adults with dyslexia on a group basis and that self-reports add to the screening. The group administration is both time-saving and cost-effective.     

对篮球比赛中换人技巧的研究

通过对篮球比赛特点的分析 ,指出了篮球比赛中换人战术具体运用的技巧及注意的问题 .为避免换人失误 ,更好地发挥换人战术效果 ,提供参考依据     

Prediction of dyslexia in kindergarten boys

This study followed 163 boys from kindergarten through fourth grade. A battery of neurospychological and preacademic tests and electrophysiological measures (BEAM) were administered in kindergarten, and reading tests at grade 4, in an attempt to delineate precursors of dyslexia. Three of the kindergarten tasks (giving sounds associated with letters, rapid naming of numbers, and finger localization) differentiated dyslexics from normal readers with 98 percent correct classification. The tasks primarily involve grapheme-phoneme associations, storage and retrieval of phonological information in long-term memory, and verbal labeling. Results are interpreted as confirming the role played by phonological processing tasks in the prediction of dyslexia. Preliminary BEAM results for visual evoked potential topography suggest a significant increment in the distribution of this potential in the left parietal and frontal region, and, for auditory evoked potential topography, a significant difference between the two groups in the right posterior hemisphere. This work was supported in part by NIHCD grants RO1HD18761 to F.H. Duffy, RO1HD18654 to H. Als, and the Mental Retardation Grant P30HD18655 to C.F. Barlow.     

国外心理治疗中当事人与治疗师匹配性研究综述

影响心理治疗的因素有很多.近年来,当事人与治疗师的匹配性对于心理治疗过程、治疗关系以及治疗结果的影响在国外得到较多的关注.其研究重点多集中在当事人与治疗师的种族匹配性、性别匹配性、人际关系定向的匹配性、依恋类型的匹配性等四个方面.此间的研究成果对于我国心理治疗的开展具有借鉴意义.     

Phonological and visual processing deficits can dissociate in developmental dyslexia: Evidence from two case studies

The present study describes two Frenchteenagers with developmental reading andwriting impairments whose performance wascompared to that of chronological age andreading age matched non-dyslexic participants.Laurent conforms to the pattern of phonologicaldyslexia: he exhibits a poor performance inpseudo-word reading and spelling, producesphonologically inaccurate misspellings butreads most exception words accurately. Nicolas,in contrast, is poor in reading and spelling ofexception words but is quite good atpseudo-word spelling, suggesting that hesuffers from surface dyslexia and dysgraphia.The two participants were submitted to anextensive battery of metaphonological tasks andto two visual attentional tasks. Laurentdemonstrated poor phonemic awareness skills butgood visual processing abilities, while Nicolasshowed the reverse pattern with severedifficulties in the visual attentional tasksbut good phonemic awareness. The presentresults suggest that a visual attentionaldisorder might be found to be associated withthe pattern of developmental surface dyslexia.The present findings further show thatphonological and visual processing deficits candissociate in developmental dyslexia.     

Reversing letters and reading transformed text in dyslexia: A reassessment

The visual deficit hypothesis of development dyslexia has largely been abandoned because many of the phenomena that initially motivated it could not be replicated under controlled experimental conditions, while phonological processing deficits were found to provide a better explanation for the replicable phenomena. Nevertheless, many teachers and special educators continue to subscribe to the hypothesis that deficits of visual perception are a major cause of reading failure in dyslexia. As part of a larger family study, we reexamined the questions (1) whether probands and affected relatives in dyslexia families reverse easily confused letters more frequently under experimental conditions than normal readers from the same families, and (2) whether they show unusual facility in reading geometrically transformed text. The findings indicated that young dyslexia students reverse easily confused letters more often than normal readers. Reading group differences of letter reversal were significant in children from 7–10 years but not thereafter; and virtually no subject reversed letters when spelling whole words. Furthermore, dyslexic persons in every age group from 7–60 years actually took longer than normal readers to decode geometrically transformed text; and the time to decode transformed texts increased progressively with age after adolescence in both dyslexic persons and normal readers. Thus, reading group differences in decoding easily confused letters and reading geometrically transformed text do not support the visual deficit hypothesis and probably do not help to clarify the etiology of developmental dyslexia.     

Reading in two orthographies: A cross-linguistic study of Dutch average and poor readers who learn English as a second language

The present study investigated the reading of secondary school students in their first and second language (L1, L2). Twenty-six average and twenty-six poor readers matched on age, gender, listening and reading comprehension participated. They were native Dutch speakers who started learning English at secondary school (grade 7). We examined whether differences in L2 between the two groups reflect differences in L1 with regard to reading and relevant subskills. In addition, the relationship between reading and its predictors within and across the two languages was investigated. Between group differences were similar in L1 and L2 when task conditions involved high levels of phonological and orthographic complexity or demanded speeded processing. Furthermore, serial rapid naming predicted speeded word reading in both languages and L2 text reading accuracy, while L2 phoneme awareness and orthographic knowledge explained unique variance in L2 text reading accuracy. Cross-linguistic prediction revealed that speeded word reading predicted its counterpart from L1 to L2 and vice versa. Serial rapid naming explained additional variance in the prediction of L2 from L1. After exclusion of the reading predictor from the model, serial rapid naming was the most consistent cross-linguistic predictor, while L2 orthographic knowledge explained a small amount of unique variance in L1 speeded word reading.