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Pasqualotto A, Altarelli I, De Angeli A, Menestrina Z, Bavelier D, Venuti P. Enhancing reading skills through a video game mixing action mechanics and cognitive training. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:545-554. [PMID: 35039655 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01254-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In modern societies, training reading skills is fundamental since poor-reading children are at high risk of struggling both at school and in life. Reading relies not only on oral language abilities but also on several executive functions. Considering their importance for literacy, training executive functions-particularly, attentional control has been suggested as a promising way of improving reading skills. For this reason, we developed a video game-based cognitive intervention aimed at improving several facets of executive functions. This game is composed of mini-games that apply gamified versions of standard clinical exercises linked through a game environment with action video game dynamics. Here, in a study involving 151 typically reading children, we demonstrated that after this general-domain behavioural intervention reading abilities, as well as attentional and planning skills, were significantly improved. Our results showed that training attentional control can translate into better reading efficiency, maintained at a follow-up test 6 months later.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Pasqualotto
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy. .,Faculte de Psychologie et Science de l'Education, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | | | - Antonella De Angeli
- Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.,Faculty of Computer Science, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Zeno Menestrina
- Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Daphne Bavelier
- Faculte de Psychologie et Science de l'Education, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Paola Venuti
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
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Rakhlin NV, Mourgues C, Cardoso-Martins C, Kornev AN, Grigorenko EL. Orthographic processing is a key predictor of reading fluency in good and poor readers in a transparent orthography. CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019; 56:250-261. [PMID: 31798206 DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
We used structural equation modeling to investigate sources of individual differences in oral reading fluency in a transparent orthography, Russian. Phonological processing, orthographic processing, and rapid automatized naming were used as independent variables, each derived from a combination of two scores: phonological awareness and pseudoword repetition, spelling and orthographic choice, and rapid serial naming of letters and digits, respectively. The contribution of these to oral text-reading fluency was evaluated as a direct relationship and via two mediators, decoding accuracy and unitized reading, measured with a single-word oral reading test. The participants were "good" and "poor" readers, i.e., those with reading skills above the 90th and below the 10th percentiles (n = 1,344, grades 2-6, St. Petersburg, Russia). In both groups, orthographic processing skills significantly contributed to fluency and unitized reading, but not to decoding accuracy. Phonological processing skills did not contribute directly to reading fluency in either group, while contributing to decoding accuracy and, to a lesser extent, to unitized reading. With respect to the roles of decoding accuracy and unitized reading, the results for good and poor readers diverged: in good readers, unitized reading, but not decoding accuracy, was significantly related to reading fluency. For poor readers, decoding accuracy (measured as pseudoword decoding) was related to reading fluency, but unitized reading was not. These results underscore the importance of orthographic skills for reading fluency even in an orthography with consistent phonology-to-orthography correspondences. They also point to a qualitative difference in the reading strategies of good and poor readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia V Rakhlin
- Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Catalina Mourgues
- Pace University, New York, NY, USA.,Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | | | - Elena L Grigorenko
- University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.,Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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Pecini C, Spoglianti S, Michetti S, Bonetti S, Di Lieto MC, Gasperini F, Cristofani P, Bozza M, Brizzolara D, Casalini C, Mazzotti S, Salvadorini R, Bargagna S, Chilosi AM. Telerehabilitation in developmental dyslexia: methods of implementation and expected results. Minerva Pediatr 2018; 70:529-538. [DOI: 10.23736/s0026-4946.16.04426-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Jap BAJ, Borleffs E, Maassen BAM. Towards identifying dyslexia in Standard Indonesian: the development of a reading assessment battery. READING AND WRITING 2017; 30:1729-1751. [PMID: 28932019 PMCID: PMC5574966 DOI: 10.1007/s11145-017-9748-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
With its transparent orthography, Standard Indonesian is spoken by over 160 million inhabitants and is the primary language of instruction in education and the government in Indonesia. An assessment battery of reading and reading-related skills was developed as a starting point for the diagnosis of dyslexia in beginner learners. Founded on the International Dyslexia Association's definition of dyslexia, the test battery comprises nine empirically motivated reading and reading-related tasks assessing word reading, pseudoword reading, arithmetic, rapid automatized naming, phoneme deletion, forward and backward digit span, verbal fluency, orthographic choice (spelling), and writing. The test was validated by computing the relationships between the outcomes on the reading-skills and reading-related measures by means of correlation and factor analyses. External variables, i.e., school grades and teacher ratings of the reading and learning abilities of individual students, were also utilized to provide evidence of its construct validity. Four variables were found to be significantly related with reading-skill measures: phonological awareness, rapid naming, spelling, and digit span. The current study on reading development in Standard Indonesian confirms findings from other languages with transparent orthographies and suggests a test battery including preliminary norm scores for screening and assessment of elementary school children learning to read Standard Indonesian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard A. J. Jap
- International Doctorate for Experimental Approaches to Language and Brain (IDEALAB), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- University of Trento, Trento, Italy
- Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Research Group, Tarumanagara University, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) and School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN), University of Groningen, P.O. Box 716, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Elisabeth Borleffs
- Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) and School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN), University of Groningen, P.O. Box 716, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ben A. M. Maassen
- Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) and School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN), University of Groningen, P.O. Box 716, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
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Heikkilä R, Torppa M, Aro M, Närhi V, Ahonen T. Double-Deficit Hypothesis in a Clinical Sample: Extension Beyond Reading. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2016; 49:546-560. [PMID: 25716215 DOI: 10.1177/0022219415572895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study explored the double-deficit hypothesis (DDH) in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and extended the view from reading disabilities to comorbidity of learning-related problems in math and attention. Children referred for evaluation of learning disabilities in second through sixth grade (N = 205) were divided into four groups based on rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonological awareness (PA) according to the DDH: the double-deficit group, the naming speed deficit-only group, the phonological deficit-only group, and the no-deficit group. The results supported the DDH in that the prevalence and severity of reading disability were greatest in the double-deficit group. Despite the greater prevalence of reading disabilities in single-deficit groups compared to the no-deficit group, the means of reading measures in the single-deficit groups were similar to those of the no-deficit group. The PA single-deficit group was poorer in spelling than the no-deficit group and single-naming-deficit group. Deficits in RAN or PA were primarily linked to reading disabilities but not with math or attention problems. The results supported the DDH partially and indicate that deficits in RAN and PA are specific to reading disabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riikka Heikkilä
- Niilo Mäki Institute, Jyväskylä, Finland Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Minna Torppa
- Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Mikko Aro
- Department of Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Vesa Närhi
- Niilo Mäki Institute, Jyväskylä, Finland University of Eastern Finland, School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Joensuu, Finland
| | - Timo Ahonen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
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Prefixes repel stress in reading aloud: Evidence from surface dyslexia. Cortex 2015; 74:191-205. [PMID: 26691734 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2015] [Revised: 09/04/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
This study examined the importance of prefixes as sublexical cues for stress assignment during reading aloud English disyllabic words. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that prefixes repel stress (Rastle & Coltheart, 2000) by investigating the likelihood with which patients with surface dyslexia assign second-syllable stress to prefixed words. Five such patients were presented with three types of disyllabic words for reading aloud: 'regular' prefixed words with weak-strong stress pattern (e.g., remind); 'irregular' prefixed words with strong-weak stress pattern (e.g., reflex); and non-prefixed words with strong-weak stress pattern (e.g., scandal). Results showed that all five patients frequently regularized the strong-weak prefixed words by pronouncing them with second syllable stress. These regularization errors provide strong evidence for the functional role of prefixes in stress assignment during reading. Additional computational simulations using the rule-based algorithm for pronouncing disyllables developed by Rastle and Coltheart (2000) and the CDP++ model of reading aloud (Perry et al., 2010) allowed us to evaluate how these two opponent approaches to reading aloud fare in respect of the patient data.
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De Luca M, Pontillo M, Primativo S, Spinelli D, Zoccolotti P. The eye-voice lead during oral reading in developmental dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:696. [PMID: 24223541 PMCID: PMC3818695 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2013] [Accepted: 10/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In reading aloud, the eye typically leads over voice position. In the present study, eye movements and voice utterances were simultaneously recorded and tracked during the reading of a meaningful text to evaluate the eye-voice lead in 16 dyslexic and 16 same-age control readers. Dyslexic children were slower than control peers in reading texts. Their slowness was characterized by a great number of silent pauses and sounding-out behaviors and a small lengthening of word articulation times. Regarding eye movements, dyslexic readers made many more eye fixations (and generally smaller rightward saccades) than controls. Eye movements and voice (which were shifted in time because of the eye-voice lead) were synchronized in dyslexic readers as well as controls. As expected, the eye-voice lead was significantly smaller in dyslexic than control readers, confirming early observations by Buswell (1921) and Fairbanks (1937). The eye-voice lead was significantly correlated with several eye movements and voice parameters, particularly number of fixations and silent pauses. The difference in performance between dyslexic and control readers across several eye and voice parameters was expressed by a ratio of about 2. We propose that referring to proportional differences allows for a parsimonious interpretation of the reading deficit in terms of a single deficit in word decoding. The possible source of this deficit may call for visual or phonological mechanisms, including Goswami's temporal sampling framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria De Luca
- Neuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Rome, Italy
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