The development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children

Working memory has been proposed as an important component of reading and arithmetic skills. The development of working memory was studied in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children. The performance of reading disabled (RD), arithmetic disabled (ARITHD), and attentional deficit disordered (ADD) children, age 7-13, was compared to normal achievers (NA) on 2 working memory tasks, 1 involving sentences and the other involving counting. There was a significant growth of working memory as a function of age. In addition, the RD children had significantly lower scores on both tasks. The ARITHD children had significantly lower scores only on the Working Memory--Counting task, and the ADD group had scores similar to the normally achieving children except at the youngest age level in the Working Memory--Sentences task. Thus, a reading disability appears to involve a generalized deficit in working memory. Children with an arithmetic disability do not have a generalized language deficit but have a specific working memory deficit in relation to processing numerical information. As children with ADD did not have deficits in these tasks, working memory may not have significant attentional components. An important component of the development of reading and computational arithmetic skills appears to be the growth of working memory for language and numerical information.     

The effects of different approaches to reading instruction on letter detection tasks in normally achieving and low achieving readers

The present study used two letter detection tasks, the classic missing letter effect paradigm and a single word versus familiar word compound version of this paradigm, to study bottom-up and top–down processes involved in reading in normally achieving as compared to low achieving elementary school readers. The research participants were children in grades first to sixth who had been taught to read by three approaches to reading instruction (ARI): the whole language/global approach, the phonic/synthetic approach or the eclectic approach. Thus, the study attempted to clarify how different ARIs activate these processes in these two types of readers. The main hypothesis was that since low achieving readers rely on top–down processes for word recognition (see, e.g., Stanovich, 1980), the whole language ARI will reduce the difference in bottom-up tasks between them and the normally achieving readers. In the two experiments included in the study, participants were required to perform a letter detection task while reading short texts in Hebrew for comprehension. Contrary to this study hypotheses, the main finding was that the whole language ARI does not compensate for difficulties in bottom-up processes of low achieving readers. Moreover, the results of this study imply that any improvement in basic processes involved in reading proficiency produced by the whole language ARI for both the normal and the low achieving readers dissipates by grade three.     

Patterns of word and nonword processing in skilled and less-skilled readers

Sixty-eight third graders who were less-skilled readers performed more poorly than younger reading-level control children on tests of pseudoword reading and phonological sensitivity. These findings add to the growing consensus that the proximal cause of reading difficulties are spelling-sound coding problems that result from deficient underlying phonological processes and structures. Analyses of their word and pseudoword reading performance provided some suggestive evidence that less-skilled readers are less sensitive than their younger reading-level matched counterparts to all subword-size orthographic units, perhaps especially to grapheme-sized units.     

Benefits of computer-presented speed training for poor readers

The effects of computer-presented automatization exercises in a group of 14 poor readers were assessed in comparison to a matched control group of 14 poor readers that received computer-presented exercises aimed at the use of context for word identification and comprehension. Training took place three sessions a week for 15 minutes per session and lasted about two months in each group. Results showed that the automatization or “speed” group progressed more than the context group in word and text reading efficiency, and the effect transferred to more complex word types than the CVC word type that was presented in the exercises. Both groups progressed to the same extent in accuracy, but the speed group made more progress in speed. No effects were found for reading comprehension. The findings make clear that computer-supported automatization exercises can be effective in reducing reading problems of poor readers in a short period of time. Implications for practice are discussed.     

The use of speech feedback by normal and disabled readers in computer-based reading practice

Disabled readers and normal beginning readers were compared on requesting help in the form of speech feedback during computer-based word reading. It was also examined whether it is best to give feedback on all words or to allow the disabled readers to choose. Normal beginning readers and reading-age matched pupils with reading problems engaged in reading practice with speech feedback on call for both difficult and easy words. A set of both difficult and easy sums was completed as a control task. Another group of reading-disabled pupils who were also matched on reading level practiced the reading of words with unsolicited speech feedback. In the first two groups the selectivity in requesting help in both the reading and arithmetic task was assessed. All subjects were tested on the reading of both practiced and nonpracticed words. The results indicate that both disabled readers and beginners were very sensitive to sum difficulty but not to word difficulty, though in the present study the students were more selective than in a previous study. The inclusion of more easy words might account for this finding. The beginners requested help only during the first sessions of reading practice, whereas the disabled readers remained dependent on the speech feedback. The reading-disabled pupils did not learn less when the computer unsolicitedly delivered the spoken form of all words than when they were allowed to choose. It is discussed how profits from the different speech feedback procedures by disabled readers might be related to word decoding skill and metacognitive monitoring.     

Learning to read Chinese: Semantic,syntactic, phonological and working memory skills in normally achieving and poor Chinese readers

Whereas many studies point to a positive relationship between phonological skills and reading in English, little is known about these relationships for children learning to read in a morphemic orthography such as Chinese. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships among reading ability, phonological, semantic and syntactic skills in Chinese. The participants were 196 grade 1 to grade 4 Chinese children in Hong Kong. A word recognition task in Chinese was developed and children who scored in the lowest quartile were classified as poor readers. The children were administered phonological tasks (tone and rhyming discrimination), semantic tasks (choosing similar words and sentences meanings), a syntactic task (oral cloze), and a working memory task. The results showed that word recognition was highly correlated with phonological skills and semantic processing, and was only moderately related to syntactic knowledge and working memory. Poor readers showed a significant lag in the development of these skills with the most significant problems at the phonological and semantic levels. Phonological skills are important to the acquisition of reading skills in both Chinese and English.     

Phonological and lexical encoding processes in beginning readers: Effects of age and word characteristics

The aim of this study was two-fold. First to find out whether the prelexical phonological route develops prior to the visual route or whether the direct visual route develops first in the process of learning to read Greek. Second, to see whether the subjects' chronological age deviation affects decisively the overall reading accuracy and the processes employed in word reading. For this an investigation was conducted involving two age groups of Primary-one class children regarded as normal readers and differing between them by 10 months. The subjects were tested in three word (and nonword) reading tasks in which psycholinguistic properties of words (such as grammatical class, imagery level, semantic content, regularity and frequency) had been manipulated. The main findings were: first that reading accuracy was not significantly affected by the main psycholinguistic properties of words. Second, that the chronological age factor is unlikely to influence decisively and consistently reading acquisition in the long term. Third, that Primary-one children although tending to use mainly phonological information in reading, nevertheless seem to have started making the transition towards the use of the direct visual route as well.Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. C. D. Porpodas, Section of Psychology, Department of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Patras, 26110 Patras, Greece.     

图书馆读者用机的管理与维护

从软件保护与硬件维护两方面图书馆读者用计算机的管理与维护进行了分析探讨。     

汉语与越南语颜色词结构特点比较

汉语和越南语的颜色词结构丰富多样,二者之间有共同之处,也有差别。就两种语言的颜色词结构特点进行比较,找出两者的异同,对学习汉语的越南人及学习越南语的中国人将有一定的帮助。     

The effects of computer technology in assisting the development of literacy in young struggling readers and spellers

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of MultiFunk, a computer program designed to assist reading, on the reading and spelling proficiency of struggling readers. Fifty‐two below‐average readers and spellers, in grades 5, 6 and 7, were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups (N?=?26?+?26). In addition, 114 classmates, who read normally, were included to compare changes in basic literacy development during the intervention. A pre‐test, intervention, post‐test, control‐group design was used to evaluate the effects of the software, using texts to suit the pupils’ own choices and interests. The findings indicate that computerized assistive reading has the potential to aid and support the development of basic literacy skills in a broad group of struggling readers and spellers. Issues concerning the MultiFunk text‐to‐speech technology are discussed.     

The attainment and experiences of disabled students in distance education

In an earlier study of disabled graduates from campus‐based institutions in the UK, students who had previously declared that they had an unseen disability were less likely to obtain good degrees (with first‐class or upper second‐class honours). The present study investigated the role of disability as a factor in the attainment and experiences of 2351 distance‐learning students awarded first degrees by the UK’s Open University in 2002–2003. In contrast to the earlier study, students who had previously declared that they were dyslexic, were deaf or hard of hearing, or had multiple disabilities were also less likely to obtain good degrees. In a self‐report questionnaire, graduates with multiple disabilities provided lower ratings of the quality of their courses and their personal development. Nevertheless, the attainment and overall experience of graduates who reported disabilities that they had not previously declared to the University were similar to those of graduates with no disability.     

Critical psychologies of disability: boundaries,borders and bodies in the lives of disabled children

Attending to the ways in which bodies and subjectivities are constituted in social environments is not simply a concern of social geographers but an emerging interest in critical psychology, childhood and disability studies. Boundaries and borders are nothing if not the different relational and durational articulations of bodies and spaces. These entangled boundaries include borders between parent and child; culture and body; school, family and child. Through analysing the ways in which these borderlines are continually re-composed and re-constituted, we are able to reveal their relational and embodied articulations. In previous works, we have explored the ways in which disabled children disrupt normative orders associated with school, family and community. In this paper, we take up the concepts of boundaries and borders to explore their relational and embodied articulations with specific reference to stories collected as part of an ESRC project entitled ‘Does every child matter, Post-Blair: the interconnections of disabled childhoods’. We ask, how do disabled children negotiate space in their lives? In what ways do they challenge space through their borders and boundaries with others? How can we re-imagine, re-think and differently practice – that is revolutionise – key borders and boundaries of education in ways that affirm the lives of disabled children? We address these questions through reference to the narrative from the Derbyshire family, with particular focus on Hannah and her mother Linda, which we argue allow us to consider the ways in which disabled childhoods can be understood and reimagined. We explore two analytical considerations; ‘Being disabled: being mugged’ and ‘Becoming enabled: teacups, saucers and communities’.     

量词“门、种、类”的用法及其认知基础——对外汉语量词教学个案研究之三

不同的量词在语义、原型意象两方面都会有所区别,同样的事物也具有多方面的特征。这就造成了同样的事物可以用不同的量词计量,同一量词可以计量不同事物;不同量词的用法既有重合,又有不对称的情况。量词“门”、“种”、“类”是一组表示类别的量词,其用法既有重合之处,也有不对称现象。文章运用意象分析的原理和方法,提示其用法的认知理据,为对外汉语教学提供帮助。     

Effectiveness of computer-based treatment for dyslexia in a clinical care setting: outcomes and moderators

The clinical effectiveness of a treatment for children with dyslexia was examined, as well as the moderating impact of plausible cognitive and socio-economic factors on treatment success. Results revealed that the treatment group accrued significant greater gains than the control group in reading and spelling skills. The treatment group obtained a level of reading accuracy and spelling that was comparable with the normative mean. Post-treatment levels of reading rate were comparable to the lower bound of the normal range. Treatment effectiveness was robust against individual differences, except for a moderating impact of phonological memory and rapid automatized naming.     

The relationship of rapid serial naming and word reading in normally developing readers: An exploratory model

Even though researchers have established that rapid serial naming (RSN), or the ability to name within a restricted category of visual stimuli quickly, is a significant predictor of word reading, the predictive nature of RSN is not well understood. To investigate the relationship of RSN and other variables thought to contribute to beginning word reading (phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, memory span, processing speed, and articulation), a preliminary/exploratory model of word reading was developed and then tested by path analysis. Results indicated that no variable in the model could fully `explain' RSN; processing speed, but not articulation, contributed to RSN performance. RSN and orthographic knowledge were significantly related, but this relationship was due to the effects of processing speed. In terms of their unique contributions to the variance in word reading, RSN, phonological awareness, and orthographic knowledge were independent of each other. While these results pertain only to normal readers and are preliminary in nature, they may provide a basis for a clear interpretation of similar studies conducted with both normal and dyslexic readers.