Rapid automatized naming (RAN): effects of aging on a predictor of reading skill

Early predictors of reading success in first grade

Reading acquisition is a complex process that can be predicted by several components which, in turn, can be affected by the orthography depth. This study aims to explore the early predictors of (un)success in reading acquisition within an intermediate transparent orthography. At the beginning of the school year, 119 European Portuguese-speaking first graders were assessed regarding (i) sociodemographic variables: mothers' education and socioeconomic status (SES); (ii) cognitive variables: phonological working memory and vocabulary; (iii) reading-related variables: letter-sound knowledge, phonemic awareness, and rapid naming. Results of the three variable clusters were correlated with the final classification obtained in the Portuguese discipline. Specifically, there was a correlation between the Portuguese discipline classification with all reading and cognitive-related variables, with the highest correlations occurring with mother education and letter spelling. A regression analysis was conducted to assess the predictor impact of mother education and letter spelling (variables that correlated stronger with the Portuguese classification) on Portuguese classifications. Letter spelling was the sole significant predictor of the Portuguese classification. Based on these results, a path analysis was run to test whether letter spelling is a mediator of the relationship between the mother's education and the Portuguese classification. The results of the model test yielded a reasonable fit, indicating a relationship between the mother's education and letter spelling, which in turn, relates to the Portuguese classification. The identification of reading predictors in an intermediate-depth orthography such as European Portuguese contributes to more accurate identification of at-risk children.

How Do Older Adults Process Icons in Visual Search Tasks? The Combined Effects of Icon Type and Cognitive Aging

Considering the differences in cognitive aging among older adults, this study examined how older adults process different types of graphic icons in visual search tasks. Fifty-four medical-related icons, including flat icons (FIs), FIs plus text (FIs + text), skeuomorphic icons (SIs), and SIs plus text (SIs + text), were created. The participants were divided into two groups—cognitively normal (CN) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)—to complete a visual search task. According to the eye-tracking data of the participants, the search performance of the CN group was significantly better than that of the MCI group. In terms of icon types, all older adults performed better at searching for the combinations of icon and text, especially SI + text, which showed the smallest difference in the search performance between the MCI and CN groups. All older adults performed poorly when searching for FIs. The findings of this study considered the differences in cognitive aging among older adults and provided a useful reference for the icon and interface design of graphical user interfaces.

Developmental Trends of Visual Processing of Letters and Objects Using Naming Speed Tasks

Studying the typical development of reading is key to understanding the precise deficits that underlie reading disabilities. An important correlate of efficient reading is the speed of naming arrays of simple stimuli such as letters and pictures. In this cross-sectional study, we examined developmental changes in visual processing that occurs during letter and object naming from childhood to early adulthood in terms of behavioral task efficiency, associated articulation and eye movement parameters, and the coordination between them, as measured by eye-voice span in both the spatial and temporal domains. We used naming speed (NS) tasks, in which participants were required to name sets of letters or simple objects as quickly and as accurately as possible. Single stimulus manipulations were made to these tasks to make the stimuli either more visually and/or phonologically similar to one another in order to examine how these manipulations affected task performance and the coordination between speech and eye movements. Across development there was an increased efficiency in speech and eye movement performance and their coordination in both the spatial and temporal domains. Furthermore, manipulations to the phonological and visual similarity of specific letter and object stimuli revealed that orthographic processing played a greater role than phonological processing in performance, with the contribution of phonological processing diminishing across development. This comprehensive typical developmental trajectory provides a benchmark for clinical populations to elucidate the nature of the cognitive dysfunction underlying reading difficulties.