Serial rapid naming skills in children with reading disabilities

This study compared the performance of children with reading disability (RD) and normal reading achievement (NRA) on tasks of serial rapid naming, verbal fluency, letter-based word retrieval, and articulatory speed. The groups, composed of children at two discrete age levels, one younger and one older, were matched for age, gender, and neighborhood school. Analyses of the on-line measurement of the children’s serial rapid naming indicated that the children with RD had significantly larger reaction times and production durations than their NRA peers despite similar levels of accuracy. They also performed significantly worse on the categorical verbal fluency task, the letter-based word retrieval task, and the test of articulatory speed. The findings suggest that both access and post-access processes, such as oral-motor inefficiency that extends the duration of word production, may be implicated in the slower serial rapid naming that has typified many samples of children with RD. This work was supported in part by Basil O’Connor Research Grant 5-340 from the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, a Scholarly and Creative Activity Award and sabbatical leave from California State University, Long Beach and grant #DCO 1904-01 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the NIH to the first author.     

Identifying children with specific reading disabilities from listening and reading discrepancy scores

A method of identifying children with specific reading disabilities by identifying discrepancies between their reading and listening comprehension scores was validated with disabled and nondisabled readers in Grades 4, 5, and 6. The method is based on a modification of the reading comprehension subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (Dunn & Markwardt, 1970). In this modification, even-numbered sentences are read by subjects, and odd-numbered sentences are read by the test administrator as subjects listen. The features of this test that reduce demands on working memory, thereby making it suitable for the detection of a discrepancy between reading and listening comprehension in readers with disabilities, are discussed. A significant group-by-modality interaction was obtained. Children with reading disabilities scored significantly lower on reading than on listening comprehension, while nondisabled readers scored slightly higher, but not significantly so, on reading than on listening comprehension. The appropriateness of this method as a substitute for the traditional method, which is based on the detection of a discrepancy between intelligence and reading and which has recently been proscribed in certain school districts, is discussed. Issues concerning the listening comprehension skills of disabled readers are also discussed.     

Naming speed deficits in adults with reading disabilities: a test of the double-deficit hypothesis

The present study investigated the persistent nature of naming speed deficits within the context of the double-deficit hypothesis in a university sample of adults with reading disabilities (RD). Twenty-five university students with RD were compared to 28 typically achieving readers on measures of reading skill, phonological processing, and naming speed. The results indicated that both naming speed and phonological processing deficits characterized the RD group. In a regression analysis, neither naming speed nor phonological processing were important variables in explaining comprehension when reading rate was in the model. The results of the present study are mixed at best and are consistent with earlier conclusions that support for the double-deficit hypothesis of dyslexia remains limited.     

Phonological knowledge and naming ability in children with reading disability

Children who are poor readers have difficulty naming pictured objects. Their naming difficulty could be a result of inadequate representations of the phonology of words, inadequate processing of those representations, or both. In this study, third-grade good and poor readers were tested on object naming, and, in cases of naming failure, forced-choice recognition tasks were used to probe their knowledge of the phonology of the object names. The two reading groups showed no differences in their ability to select the initial phonemes or rhymes of object names they had not produced spontaneously. Moreover, initial phoneme prompts were helpful for both reading groups. The children differed, however, in their ability to produce words after being given rhyme information. The results indicated that, except in the ability to manipulate explicitly phonological information, the poor readers; performance was qualitatively similar to that of the good readers. It is suggested that training in phonological analysis may help poor readers overcome the deficiencies in establishing and processing phonological representations that lead to their quantitative deficit in object naming.     

Relationship between home literacy environment and reading achievement in children with reading disabilities

Past research has indicated that a significant relationship exists between young children's early home literacy environment and their reading-related skills. However, this relationship has rarely been investigated among older children with reading disabilities (RD). In the present study, the relationship between parent and child home literacy activities and children's academic functioning was investigated with a sample of 65 elementary-age children with RD. The results indicated that children's home literacy activities were not significantly related to any of their academic abilities, whereas parents' home literacy activities were significantly related to children's passage comprehension and spelling scores. However, relationships between home literacy environment and reading may be different for children with and without RD.     

Relationship between PPVT and WISC-R in children with reading disabilities

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), Form A was compared to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in two samples of children with reading disabilities. One group of 14 children, referred to a university clinic, were administered the WISC-R, followed by the PPVT. The second group of 38 children from a private learning disability center were administered the PPVT first, followed by the WISC-R. In the combined sample, the PPVT IQ (X̄ = 109.2) was significantly higher than the WISC-R Verbal IQ (X̄ = 98.9), Performance IQ (X̄ = 97.0), and Full Scale IQ (X̄ = 97.5). Similarly, the PPVT IQ was significantly higher than the WISC-R Full Scale in both samples separately, regardless of which test was administered first. In one case, the PPVT IQ was 50 points higher than the WISC-R IQ. Correlations between the PPVT and WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs were significant (rs = .56, .29, and .50, respectively). The results suggest that the two tests do not provide interchangeable IQs for a population of reading disabled children.     

Component processes in reading: shared and unique variance in serial and isolated naming speed

Reading ability is comprised of several component processes. In particular, the connection between the visual and verbal systems has been demonstrated to play an important role in the reading process. The present study provides a review of the existing literature on the visual verbal connection as measured by two tasks, rapid serial naming and isolated (or discrete-trial) naming speed, as they relate to reading ability. For each identified study, a secondary data analysis was conducted using the provided correlations between serial naming, isolated naming, and reading. The same analysis was repeated for average population-level correlations among these constructs using meta-analytic weighting techniques. Results suggested that isolated naming acts as a suppressor variable in the relation of serial naming with reading, indicating that there exists at least one cognitive component of the serial naming task that is predictive of reading but is not shared with isolated naming speed. The effect has several implications for understanding the underlying cognitive components reading ability, which are discussed.     

Rapid naming speed and reading across languages that vary in orthographic consistency

The objective of this study was to examine how rapid naming speed is related to reading ability across languages that vary in orthographic consistency. Forty English-speaking Canadian children, 40 Greek-speaking Cypriot children, and 40 Chinese-speaking Taiwanese children were administered RAN, reading accuracy, and reading fluency tasks in grade 4. The results revealed that across languages there were no statistically significant differences in the correlations between RAN and reading. However, a subsequent analysis of the RAN components—articulation and pause time—revealed that different RAN components may be responsible for the RAN-reading relationship across languages. Implications for existing theories relating RAN to reading are discussed.     

The locus of so-called IQ test results in reading disabilities

It would appear the question of relevance of IQ in the assessment and remediation of children with RD is not quite the relevant question to ask, if only traditional intelligence tests are the focus. From the psychoeducational point of view of refining diagnosis, and from the administrative perspective of accountability, it would be helpful to accept a threshold of something like an IQ of 85 as the lower bound in defining learning or reading disabilities. A discrepancy from this threshold as derived from regression analysis or other more refined analyses and taking into account varying reliabilities, intercorrelations, and standard errors of measurement of different measuring instruments may constitute a learning or reading disability. How discrepant the aptitude-achievement should be to constitute a "significant" difference is a function of, among other factors, the material and human resources available to any particular school system. Leong (1987) has made suggestions for essentially a two-stage assessment leading to more refined diagnosis with the use of well-standardized group tests and teachers' estimates for the first stage (assessment) and more refined individual tests to diagnose those showing discrepant aptitude-learning performance in the border-zone. The rationale is that all those children requiring special services are so served and those in the uncertainty region must be carefully diagnosed so as to minimize so-called "misfits" in accordance with signal detection principles. It should be noted that the diagnosis of learning or reading disabilities can never be exact, even with the use of reliable and valid test instruments, and the "fuzzy set" approach should apply to the process (Horvath, Kass, & Ferrell, 1980).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Comprehension of humor in children with nonverbal learning disabilities,reading disabilities,and without learning disabilities

The normal development of humor in children has been well documented with a predictable course that is tied to social, cognitive, and linguistic development in children. This study explored humor comprehension in children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD). Children with NVLD were compared with children with reading disabilities and a comparison group of children with no learning disabilities to assess their comprehension of humor. The humor test was composed of a joke and cartoon section. No group differences in humor comprehension were found when the NVLD group was defined as having visual–spatial and visual reasoning deficits. However, when the NVLD group was divided into children with and without social perceptual difficulties as defined by a direct measure of social comprehension, significant group differences were found in the levels of humor comprehension. These results support the association of humor comprehension with social perception and lend tentative support to the hypothesis that children with NVLD may not be a homogenous group. Future study directions include further exploration into the nature of the association between humor comprehension and social perception as well as closer examination of the heterogeneity of NVLD.     

Eye movements of university students with and without reading difficulties during naming speed tasks

Although naming speed (NS) has been shown to predict reading into adulthood and differentiate between adult dyslexics and controls, the question remains why NS is related to reading. To address this question, eye movement methodology was combined with three letter NS tasks (the original letter NS task by Denckla & Rudel, Cortex 10:186–202, 1974, and two more developed by Compton, The Journal of Special Education 37:81–94, 2003, with increased phonological or visual similarity of the letters). Twenty undergraduate students with reading difficulties (RD) and 27 without (NRD) were tested on letter NS tasks (eye movements were recorded during the NS tasks), phonological processing, and reading fluency. The results indicated first that the RD group was slower than the NRD group on all NS tasks with no differences between the NS tasks. In addition, the NRD group had shorter fixation durations, longer saccades, and fewer saccades and fixations than the RD group. Fixation duration and fixation count were significant predictors of reading fluency even after controlling for phonological processing measures. Taken together, these findings suggest that the NS–reading relationship is due to two factors: less able readers require more time to acquire stimulus information during fixation and they make more saccades.     

Training letter and orthographic pattern recognition in children with slow naming speed

Although research has established that performance on a rapid automatized naming (RAN) task is related to reading, the nature of this relationship is unclear. Bowers (2001) proposed that processes underlying performance on the RAN task and orthographic knowledge make independent and additive contributions to reading performance. We examined the benefits of training orthographic pattern recognition and speeded letter recognition for children in Grades 1 and 2 with slow naming speed. Children first received training in either orthographic pattern recognition or speeded letter recognition, and then switched to the other type of training. Results indicated that speeded letter recognition can improve through training, but only when preceded by training in orthographic pattern recognition. Orthographic pattern recognition training improved the accuracy and speed of reading training words, whether training occurred alone or following letter training. Letter training prior to the orthographic training provided no additional benefit. Together, these results argue for the importance of orthographic training for children with slow naming speed.     

Teachers are still the test: limitations of response to instruction strategies for identifying children with learning disabilities

In this paper I comment on recent recommendations that students' responsiveness to instruction (RTI) provides a basis for identification of students as learning disabled. I repeat an earlier argument (Gerber & Semmel, 1985) that teachers embedded in schools are naturally variable in their capacity to respond to differences in students' response to instruction. This fact continues to be the only logical empirical foundation for the construct of learning disability. I describe a theoretical model of instructional tolerance that indicates why standardized protocol RTI strategies, specifically, cannot be achieved at desirable scale without incurring enormous costs.     

Dynamic testing, working memory, and reading comprehension growth in children with reading disabilities

This longitudinal study assessed (a) whether performance changes in working memory (WM) as a function of dynamic testing were related to growth in reading comprehension and (b) whether WM performance among subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD; children with RD only, children with both reading and arithmetic deficits, and low verbal IQ readers) varied as a function of dynamic testing. A battery of memory and reading measures was administered to 78 children (11.6 years) across three testing waves spaced 1 year apart. WM tasks were presented under initial and dynamic testing conditions (referred to as gain and maintenance testing). The important results were that (a) WM performance as a function of maintenance testing was a significant moderator of growth in reading comprehension and (b) WM performance of children with RD was statistically comparable within subgroups of RD but inferior to that of skilled readers across all testing conditions. The results support the notion that children's WM performance under dynamic testing conditions was related to the rate of growth in reading comprehension but unrelated to subgroup differences in reading.     

The role of speed of processing, rapid naming, and phonological awareness in reading achievement

This study investigated the role of speed of processing, rapid naming, and phonological awareness in reading achievement. Measures of response time in motor, visual, lexical, grammatical, and phonological tasks were administered to 279 children in third grade. Measures of rapid object naming, phonological awareness, and reading achievement were given in second and fourth grades. Reading group comparisons indicated that poor readers were proportionally slower than good readers across response time measures and on the rapid object naming task. These results suggest that some poor readers have a general deficit in speed of processing and that their problems in rapid object naming are in part a reflection of this deficit. Hierarchical regression analyses further showed that when considered along with IQ and phonological awareness, speed of processing explained unique variance in reading achievement. This finding suggests that a speed of processing deficit may be an "extraphonological" factor in some reading disabilities.     

The cognitive levels test: Its relationship with reading and mathematics achievement

Any instrument designed to measure broad cognitive ability is expected to correlate substantially with valid measures of academic achievement. This report describes an investigation designed to evaluate the relationship between the Cognitive Levels Test, a newly available instrument, and two tests of academic achievement that have been widely used for nearly two decades: the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests and the KeyMath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test. The study included children in grades K-2 who were enrolled in a remedial summer school program. The results showed the Cognitive Levels Test (Cognitive Index) to be rather highly correlated with the KeyMath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test Total score (r=.72) and moderately correlated with the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Total Reading score (r=.55). A repeated measures analysis of variance comparing standard scores for the Cognitive Levels Test with those of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests indicated few mean differences between the two sets of scores. Implications concerning the validity of the Cognitive Levels Test were discussed.     

The validity of reading comprehension rate: Reading speed,comprehension, and comprehension rates

This article describes a secondary analysis of a brief reading comprehension rate measure, percent comprehension questions correct per minute spent reading (%C/M). This measure includes reading speed (seconds to read) in the denominator and percentage of comprehension questions answered correctly in the numerator. Participants were 22 4th‐, 29 5th‐, and 37 10th‐grade students. Results showed that reading speed accounted for much of the variance in Broad Reading Cluster scores and subtest scores of the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement across all grade levels. Converting reading speed to the rate measure %C/M increased Broad Reading Cluster variance accounted for in the 4th‐ and 5th‐grade sample, but decreased the Broad Reading Cluster variance accounted for in the 10th‐grade sample. Discussion focuses on the importance of reading speed and the failure to enhance validity of a brief rate measure in more skilled readers by incorporating a direct measure of comprehension. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reading fluency: implications for the assessment of children with reading disabilities

The current investigation explored the diagnostic utility of reading fluency measures in the identification of children with reading disabilities. Participants were 50 children referred to a university-based clinic because of suspected reading problems and/or a prior diagnosis of dyslexia, where children completed a battery of standardized intellectual, reading achievement, and processing measures. Within this clinical sample, a group of children were identified that exhibited specific deficits in their reading fluency skills with concurrent deficits in rapid naming speed and reading comprehension. This group of children would not have been identified as having a reading disability according to assessment of single word reading skills alone, suggesting that it is essential to assess reading fluency in addition to word reading because failure to do so may result in the under-identification of children with reading disabilities.