After a generation#x2019;s time: A follow-up study of fifty-six boys a preliminary report

A population of 56 elementary school boys, both non-dyslexic and dyslexic, known between 1930 and 1947, was retrospectively studied sociologically, analyzed educationally, and ranked according to language learning facility. By record search and interviews, in 1964–1965, the educational and vocational history and present status of each boy was ascertained, together with other data. It was found that the dyslexic boys had completed a fraction of a year more of college and graduate school education and had achieved slightly higher vocational status than had the non-dyslexics, on the average. The amounts were statistically non-significant but the outcome was contrary to the hypothesis stated, and is considered to justify increased optimism in prognosis in cases of dyslexia.     

Dyslexia and psychodynamics: A case study of a dyslexic adult

The interaction between dyslexia and its secondary emotional problems, especially those arising from unproductive defenses, is illustrated in the history and successful treatment of an adult dyslexic male. At the start of treatment, the 33-year-old subject was illiterate, despite an average IQ and a history of many previous educational and therapeutic interventions. Psychological problems, including low self-esteem, alcohol abuse, temper outbursts, and poor relationships with women were seen as largely secondary to the subject’s learning problem. A review of the treatment, consisting of remediation concurrent with psychodynamic psychotherapy, reveals specific ways in which these emotional problems hindered educational efforts, as well as ways in which their exploration and resolution in psychotherapy helped the remediation. Similarly, ways in which the subject’s learning problem contributed to the development of his emotional problems are discussed. Finally, with reference to the psychoanalytic concept of sublimation, the relationship between improvement in the subject’s reading skill and improvement in his impulse control is described.     

Attributional and behavioral changes following two behavior management interventions with hyperactive boys: a follow-up study

In a 6-month follow-up study of 2 interventions with hyperactive boys, different patterns of improvement were observed for an intervention which focused on self-control and 1 which employed contingent social reinforcement. Of the 2 manipulations, self-control methods produced significantly stronger long-term benefits in terms of the child's increased perception of personal control over academic outcomes; social reinforcement, on the other hand, produced significantly stronger long-term benefits in terms of teacher ratings of hyperactivity or impulsivity (Conners Teacher Rating Scale). Both interventions produced stable changes in terms of decreased behavioral impulsivity as measured by qualitative error scores on the Porteus Mazes.     

A developmental perspective on dyslexic subtypes

In this paper we apply a developmental model of reading to the question of dyslexic subtypes. Groups of normal readers (n=40) and dyslexic children (n=50), matched on reading level and IQ, were given a comprehensive test battery measuring level of development of visual, phonological, and orthographic skills. As a group, dyslexics deviated from normal readers of equivalent reading achievement primarily in phonological skills (spelling-to-sound translation and phonemic analysis), although limited differences in knowledge of word-specific spellings were also observed. Dyslexics were superior to the younger normal readers in visual processing of print. Analysis of individual data by reference to the reading level control group revealed three major subgroups: a group with a specific deficit in phonological processing of print (52 percent), a group with deficits in processing both the phonological and orthographic features of printed words (24 percent), and a group with phonological deficits in language (8 percent). The remainder of the sample (16 percent) had specific deficits in visual or orthographic processing of print, in spelling, or did not differ from the control group. The data support the view that most developmental dyslexics have a specific language disorder involving some aspect of phonological processing. However, small subgroups with very different configurations of reading and nonreading difficulties may exist as well. This research was supported by an NICHD grant to the first author (USPHS grant 1 R23 HD20231).     

A study of the relationship between the Stroop effect and reading age in dyslexic subjects

40 dyslexic subjects were given a version of the Stroop test and the magnitude of interference was plotted as a function of reading age as measured by the British Ability Scale. A negative linear relationship emerged, such that greater reading proficiency was associated with less interference. This result is discussed in the context of LaBerge and Samuel's theory of automatic information processing in reading.     

Writing through retellings: an exploratory study of language-impaired and dyslexic populations

This study was designed to examine differences and similarities in the writing of 15 language-impaired, 17 dyslexic and 15 typically developing control subjects matched on chronological age. Subjects ranging in age from 11 to 21 years were required to produce a written language sample using an expository text-retell procedure. The writing of these groups was compared on eight variables across discourse, T-unit, sentence, and word levels. Control subjects performed better than language-impaired and dyslexic subjects on all writing variables. Dyslexic subjects showed better performance than the language-impaired subjects on several variables including, (a) number of T-units, (b) number of ideas, (c) total number of words, and (4) number of different words while showing comparable performance on percentage of spelling and production of grammatically correct sentences. These findings support Bishop and Snowling’s [Psychol. Bull. 130 (2004) 858] position that the differences between these two clinical populations exist in the non-phonological dimensions of language.     

Graphophonological processes in dyslexic readers of French: A longitudinal study of the explicitness effect of tasks

Given the well-acknowledged phonological deficit found in dyslexic children, this study was aimed at investigating graphophonological processes in dyslexic readers of French over a 1-year period. Among the different types of phonological processing can be distinguished those related to phonological awareness based on knowledge of the oral language and graphophonological processes based on correspondences between the oral and the written language. In this study, we evaluated graphophonemic and graphosyllabic processes using, in each case, two different tasks varying in the degree of cognitive constraint associated with the task (CC- vs CC+). Twenty 11 year-old dyslexic students were compared with younger normal-readers of the same reading level (RA, n=26) and to normal-readers of the same age (CA, n=24). Two variables were considered in the analyses: accuracy and response latency. Results show that dyslexic readers do process written items at the graphophonological level. Also, results indicate main effects of task (CC- vs CC+), time (T1 vs T2), and group (DYS vs RA vs CA). In general, dyslexic participants' performances are comparable to those of RA and differ from those of CA.     

Rorschach responses of dyslexic children

Fifteen dyslexic children between the ages of 8 and 16 were given the Rorschach ink blot test and their responses were compared with those of 12 suitably matched controls. It was found that they made very considerable use of the shape of the cards, but much less use of the other determinants (color, texture, etc.). Unlike the controls they seldom turned the cards around so as to obtain some fresh “view,” and the overall number of responses per person was considerably less, with many of them giving only one response per card. It is suggested that the educational and social pressures on a dyslexic child often make him reluctant to commit himself in a context where “playing safe” is socially acceptable.     

A decade of research with dyslexic college students: A summary of findings

The major findings of several research projects that investigated dyslexic college students are summarized in this paper. Consistent findings of these investigations led to the following conclusions. 1) Developmental dyslexia is a syndrome made up of the following four symptoms: slow rate of reading, error-prone oral reading, poor written spelling, and grammatically incorrect writing; 2) all these symptoms could be traced to a poor mastery of the grapheme-phoneme relational rules; 3) developmental dyslexia can be found in subjects who appear to have adequate oral language skills; 4) ex-dyslexics who appear to be “poor spellers but good readers” have subtle reading deficits; and 5) the 20 dyslexic subjects investigated appear to constitute a homogeneous group which raises questions regarding dyslexia subtypes.     

Evaluating the use of multimedia authoring with dyslexic learners: a case study

This paper reports on the findings of a case study set up to explore the possible benefits that dyslexic learners might have when engaging in the creation of their own multimedia project. Two children with specific learning difficulties worked with the author to develop a multimedia presentation. The children developed authoring skills (such as planning and drafting, composition, revision and reflection, proof reading and presentation) and became active, motivated learners. It is believed that the open-ended character of a multimedia authoring package can encourage creative thinking and interest for content and style of presentation.