Using Serial and Discrete Digit Naming to Unravel Word Reading Processes

The metrics of reading speed: understanding developmental dyslexia

We compared reading words and pseudo-words presented in single displays (as typical of psycholinguistic research) with stimuli presented in multiple displays (as typical of real-life conditions and clinical testing) under controlled conditions. Italian sixth-grade children with and without a reading deficit showed an advantage in reading times for multiple over single displays. This finding was partly ascribed to the capacity to overlap the non-decisional component of the response, an effect present in control readers as well as children with dyslexia. Furthermore, there were several indications in the data that the requirement to read sequentially taxes performance by augmenting the relative impact of the experimental manipulations used. This effect was present in both groups of children, but proportionally stronger in children with dyslexia. The study contributes to filling the gap between single and multiple displays, a condition more like real-life situations.

Similarities and differences in the neural correlates of letter and speech sound integration in blind and sighted readers

Learning letter and speech sound (LS) associations is a major step in reading acquisition common for all alphabetic scripts, including Braille used by blind readers. The left superior temporal cortex (STC) plays an important role in audiovisual LS integration in sighted people, but it is still unknown what neural mechanisms are responsible for audiotactile LS integration in blind individuals. Here, we investigated the similarities and differences between LS integration in blind Braille (N = 42, age range: 9-60 y.o.) and sighted print (N = 47, age range: 9-60 y.o.) readers who acquired reading using different sensory modalities. In both groups, the STC responded to both isolated letters and isolated speech sounds, showed enhanced activation when they were presented together, and distinguished between congruent and incongruent letter and speech sound pairs. However, the direction of the congruency effect was different between the groups. Sighted subjects showed higher activity for incongruent LS pairs in the bilateral STC, similarly to previously studied typical readers of transparent orthographies. In the blind, congruent pairs resulted in an increased response in the right STC. These differences may be related to more sequential processing of Braille as compared to print reading. At the same time, behavioral efficiency in LS discrimination decisions and the congruency effect were found to be related to age and reading skill only in sighted participants, suggesting potential differences in the developmental trajectories of LS integration between blind and sighted readers.

Serial and discrete naming and reading in Chinese first graders: Testing predictions from the cascaded processing hypothesis

Recent studies have suggested that-beyond automaticity and prosody-reading fluency involves parallel processing of adjacent items presented in a sequence, termed "cascaded processing." To date, most studies examining cascaded processing have been conducted in alphabetic orthographies. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the cascaded processing hypothesis in Chinese. A total of 119 Grade 1 Chinese children (61 boys and 58 girls; M_age = 7.30 years, SD = 0.31) were assessed on serial and discrete naming of digits as well as on serial and discrete naming of high-frequency one- and two-character words and low-frequency one-character words presented with pinyin. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed, first, that serial digit naming was a unique predictor of discrete naming of low-frequency one-character words and two-character words, but not of high-frequency one-character words. Second, serial digit naming was a unique predictor of reading of high-frequency one- and two-character word reading after controlling for discrete word reading. These findings suggest that Chinese first graders process high-frequency characters holistically (similar to simple digits), which then facilitates parallel processing of multiple stimuli when they are presented in a sequence.

Word- and Text-Level Processes Contributing to Fluent Reading of Word Lists and Sentences

In this study, we investigated how word- and text-level processes contribute to different types of reading fluency measures. We aimed to increase our understanding of the underlying processes necessary for fluent reading. The sample included 73 Dutch Grade 3 children, who were assessed on serial word reading rate (familiar words), word-list reading fluency (increasingly difficult words), and sentence reading fluency. Word-level processes were individual word recognition speed (discrete word reading) and sequential processing efficiency (serial digit naming). Text-level processes were receptive vocabulary and syntactic skills. The results showed that word- and text-level processes combined accounted for a comparable amount of variance in all fluency outcomes. Both word-level processes were moderate predictors of all fluency outcomes. However, vocabulary only moderately predicted sentence reading fluency, and syntactic skills merely contributed to sentence reading fluency indirectly through vocabulary. The findings indicate that sequential processing efficiency has a crucial role in reading fluency across various measures besides individual word recognition speed. Additionally, text-level processes come into play when complexity and context availability of fluency measures increases, but the exact timing requires further study. Findings are discussed in terms of future directions and their possible value for diagnostic assessment and intervention of reading difficulties.

Consonant and vowel transposition effects during reading development: A study on Italian children and adults

Recently, Colombo, Spinelli, and Lupker, using a masked transposed letter (TL) priming paradigm, investigated whether consonant/vowel (CV) status is important early in orthographic processing. In four experiments with Italian and English adults, they found equivalent TL priming effects for CC, CV, and VC transpositions. Here, we investigated that question with younger readers (aged 7-10) and adults, as well as whether masked TL priming effects might have a phonological basis. That is, because young children are likely to use phonological recoding in reading, the question was whether they would show TL priming that is affected by CV status. In Experiment 1, target words were preceded by primes in which two letters (either CV, VC, or CC) were transposed versus substituted (SL). We found significant TL priming effects, with an increasing developmental trend but, again, no letter type by priming interaction. In Experiment 2, the transpositions/substitutions involved only pairs of vowels with those vowels having either diphthong or hiatus status. The difference between these two types of vowel clusters is only phonological; thus, the question was, "Would TL priming interact with this factor?" TL priming was again found with an increasing trend with age, but there was no vowel cluster by priming interaction. There was, however, an overall vowel cluster effect (slower responding to words with hiatuses) which decreased with age. The results suggest that TL priming only taps the orthographic level, and that CV status only becomes important at a later phonological level.

Reading-impaired children improve through text-fading training: analyses of comprehension, orthographic knowledge, and RAN

Early intervention for children with reading impairments is crucial in order to achieve reading improvements and avoid school failure. One line of reading intervention research focuses on the experimental manipulation of reading rate through a text-fading training approach. Considering relevant reading-related predictors (i.e., orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming; RAN), we aim at evaluating the text-fading training's efficiency for a sample of German reading-impaired third graders (n = 120). The purpose of the present study was to examine (1) the predictive value of orthographic knowledge and RAN and their contribution of explained variance in comprehension performance during training, (2) text-fading training effects on reading rate and comprehension in a pre-post comparison, and (3) (lasting) text-fading training effects at word and sentence level in a pre-post-follow-up design. Results of structural models indicated RAN to be significantly related to comprehension performance for the experimental group, whereas no sufficient regression weight was found for orthographic knowledge. A reverse pattern was found for the self-paced group. No significant improvements regarding reading rate and comprehension were revealed for the experimental group after training. However, significant positive effects on word and sentence level at post-test time point indicate stronger reading improvements for the experimental compared to the control group. The retention of training gains was indicated at sentence-level reading 6 months after the training. Possible explanations for the presented positive training effects as well as the mixed results for reading rate, comprehension, and follow-up preservation are discussed.

Rapid serial naming: Developmental trajectory and relationship with the Bangor Dyslexia Test in Spanish students

This study aimed to analyse the developmental trajectory of the accuracy and speed of naming among dyslexics and developing readers from 1st to 6th grade of primary education. It examined how familiarity with the stimulus influences the performance of different naming tasks in both groups and evaluated the link between naming speed and the Bangor Dyslexia Test. With a descriptive and correlational design, eight naming tasks and the Bangor Dyslexia Test (Miles, 1982; Outón & Suárez, 2010) were administered to a sample of 198 dyslexics and 245 developing readers. The results showed that the dyslexics were slower and more inaccurate in all the naming tasks, compared with the developing readers of the same age. Greater difficulty was observed with the less familiar stimuli. It became evident that naming performance improved with age among both groups of subjects. Finally, a greater number of significant and positive correlations were found between the naming tasks and the Bangor Dyslexia Test in the dyslexic group; the strongest relationship was obtained by naming letters.

The relation of visual attention span with serial and discrete rapid automatized naming and reading

Visual attention span (VAS) has been shown to make a unique contribution to reading skills over and above phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN). In the current study, we examined the nature of this unique relationship. In particular, we tested whether VAS reflects the retrieval of a verbal code, serial processing, or parallel multi-element processing. To this end, we presented 180 third graders with tasks for VAS, discrete RAN, and serial RAN as well as serial and discrete reading of short words, pseudowords, and long words. VAS was found to correlate with serial RAN but not with discrete RAN. More important, similar relations were found for VAS with serial and discrete reading, which clearly differed from the format-specific relations between RAN and reading. Together, these findings suggest that VAS and serial RAN are related but are associated with reading for different reasons. Serial RAN appears to reflect serial interword reading processes, whereas the unique contribution of VAS mainly involves the parallel processing of orthographic units within words.

What mechanism underlies the rapid automatized naming-reading relation?

We examined why rapid automatized naming (RAN) is related to reading by manipulating one aspect of the RAN task at a time and by inspecting the changes occurring in the RAN-reading relation. In total, 136 Grade 2 English-speaking children and 121 university students were assessed on serial and discrete RAN, cancellation, and yes/no naming as well as on oral and silent reading fluency. The results of regression analyses indicated that seriality, access to phonological representations, and articulation play an important role in the RAN-reading relation. However, their effects were not equal for the two age groups or across the two reading outcomes.

The Distinct Roles of Dorsal and Ventral Visual Systems in Naming of Chinese Characters

We aimed to investigate the role of dorsal and ventral visual systems in rapid naming of simple Chinese characters. Twenty college students (10 female; M_age = 22.5 years) were required to covertly read a character- and a cross-matrix during an fMRI experiment. A basic prosaccade and a prosaccade-naming task were also performed to confirm the functional significance of the findings. The results of whole brain analysis showed that both dorsal and ventral visual systems were activated in the character-matrix reading. The cross-matrix scanning elicited weaker activation in the left middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and ventral occipitotemporal cortex. Next, whereas both top-down and bottom-up effective connectivities (ECs) were found between these two systems in the character-matrix reading, only top-down ECs were observed in the cross-matrix scanning. Moreover, in the character-matrix reading, we found a negative correlation between the reaction time of naming in the prosaccade-naming task and the EC strength from visual word form area to superior temporal gyrus and a positive correlation between the reaction time in the basic prosaccade task and the EC strength from middle frontal gyrus to intraparietal sulcus. The cross-matrix scanning did not show any brain-behavior relationship. These results suggest that while the dorsal visual system is mainly engaged in eye-movement control, the ventral system is associated more with orthographic processing and orthography-phonology mapping.