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.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ackerman, P.T., & Dykman, R.A. (1993). Phonological processes, confrontation naming, and immediate memory in dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 26, 597—609.
2.
Badian, N. (1994). Do dyslexic and other poor readers differ in reading related cognitive skills?Reading and Writing, 6, 45— 63.
3.
Blank, M., Berenzweig, S.S., & Bridger, W.H. (1975). The effect of stimulus complexity and sensory modality on the reaction time in normal and retarded readers. Child Development, 46, 133—140.
4.
Bowers, J.S., Vigliocco, G., Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H., & Vinson, D. (1999). Distinguishing language and thought: Experimental evidence that syntax is lexically rather than conceptually represented. Psychological Science, 10, 310—315.
5.
Bowers, P.G. (1995, April). Re-examining selected reading research from the viewpoint of the “double-deficit” hypothesis. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development , Indianapolis, IN.
6.
Bowers, P.G., & Swanson, L.B. (1991). Naming speed deficits in reading disabilities: Multiple measures of a singular process. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 51, 195—219.
Carroll, J.B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
9.
Catts, H.W. (1989). Phonological processing deficits and reading disabilities . In A. Kamhi & H. Catts (Eds.), Reading disabilities: A developmental language perspective (pp. 101—132). Boston : Allyn & Bacon.
10.
Catts, H.W. (1993). The relationship between speech—language impairments and reading disabilities. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 948—958.
11.
Catts, H.W. (1996). Defining dyslexia as a developmental language disorder: An expanded view. Topics in Language Disorders, 16, 14—29.
12.
Catts, H.W. (2000, November). Who are poor readers: Evidence from a longitudinal investigation. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Dyslexia Association, Washington, DC.
13.
Catts, H.W., & Fey, M.E. (1995). Written language outcomes in children with language impairments. In J. B. Tomblin (Ed.), Midwest collaboration on specific language impairments. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
14.
Catts, H.W., Fey, M.E., Zhang, X., & Tomblin, J.B. (1999). Language basis of reading and reading disabilities: Evidence from a longitudinal investigation. Scientific Studies in Reading, 3, 331—361.
15.
Cowan, N., Wood, N.L., Wood, P.K., Keller, T.A., Nugent, L.D., & Keller, C.V. (1998). Two separate verbal processing rates contributing to short-term memory span. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 127, 141—160.
Denckla, M.B., & Rudel, R.G. (1974). “Rapid automatized naming” of pictured objects, colors, letters, and numbers by normal children. Cortex, 10, 186—202.
18.
Denckla, M.B., & Rudel, R.G. (1976). Rapid automatized naming (R.A.N.): Dyslexia differentiated from other learning disabilities. Neuropsychologia, 14, 471—479.
19.
Dunn, L., & Dunn, L. (1981). Peabody picture vocabulary test—revised . Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
20.
Dunn, L., & Dunn, L. (1997). Peabody picture vocabulary test (3rd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
21.
Eysenck, H.J. (1982). A model of intelligence. New York: Springer Verlag.
22.
Felton, R.H., & Brown, I.S. (1990). Phonological processes as predictors of specific reading skills in children at risk for reading failure. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 212—229.
23.
Fletcher, J.M. (1992). The validity of distinguishing children with language and learning disabilities according to discrepancies with IQ: Introduction to a special series. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 546—548.
24.
Fletcher, J.M., Shaywitz, S.E., Shankweiler, D.P., Katz, L., Liberman, I.Y., Stuebing, K.K., et al. (1994). Cognitive profiles of reading disability: Comparisons of discrepancy and low achievement definitions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 6—23.
25.
Geschwind, N. (1965). Disconnection syndrome in animals and man (Parts I & II). Brain, 88, 237—294, 585—644.
26.
Hayes, F.B., Hynd, G.W., & Wisenbaker, J. (1986). Learning disabled and normal college students' performance on reaction time and speeded classification tasks. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19, 39—43.
27.
Jensen, A.R. (1987). Psychometric g as a focus of concerted research effort. Intelligence, 11, 193—198.
28.
Kail, R. (1991). Processing time declines exponentially during childhood and adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 27, 259—266.
29.
Kail, R. (1994). A method of studying the generalized slowing hypothesis in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 37, 418—421.
30.
Kail, R., & Hall, L.K. (1994). Speed of processing, naming speed, and reading . Developmental Psychology, 30, 949—954.
31.
Leonard, L. (1998). Children with specific language impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
32.
Leonard, L.B., Kail, R., & Ellis Weismer, S. (1995). Speed of processing in children with specific language impairments. In J. B. Tomblin (Ed.), Midwest collaboration on specific language impairments. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
33.
Manis, F.S., Doi, L.M., & Bhadha, B. (2000). Naming speed, phonological awareness, and orthographic knowledge in second graders. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 33, 325—333.
34.
McBride-Chang, C., & Manis, F.S. (1996). Structural invariance in the associations of naming speed, phonological awareness, and verbal reasoning in good and poor readers: A test of the double deficit hypothesis. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 8, 323—339.
35.
Meyer, M.S., Wood, F.B., Hart, L.A., & Felton, R.H. (1998). Longitudinal course of rapid naming in disabled and nondisabled readers. Annals of Dyslexia, 43, 91— 114.
36.
Miller, C., Kail, R., Leonard, L., & Tomblin, J.B. (2001). Speed of processing in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 44, 416—433.
37.
Moore, M., Kagan, J., Sahl, M., & Grant, S. (1982). Cognitive profiles in reading disability. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 105, 41—93.
Nicolson, R.I., & Fawcett, A.J. (1994). Reaction times and dyslexia. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, 29—48.
40.
Nicolson, R.I., & Fawcett, A.J. (1999). Developmental dyslexia: The role of the cerebellum . Dyslexia, 5, 155—177.
41.
Olson, R.K., Datta, H., Gayan, J., & DeFries, J.C. (1999). A behavioral—genetic analysis of reading disabilities and component processes. In R. M. Klein & P. A. Mc-Mullen (Eds.), Converging methods for understanding reading and dyslexia (pp. 133— 153). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
42.
Rosner, J., & Simon, D. (1971). The auditory analysis test: An initial report . Journal of Learning Disabilities, 4, 40—48.
43.
Rutter, M., & Yule, W. (1975). The concept of specific reading retardation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16, 181— 197.
44.
Schatschneider, C., Carlson, C.D., & Francis, D.J. (2002). The relationship between rapid automatized naming and phonological awareness in prediction of early reading skills: Implications for the double-deficit hypothesis. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 35, 245—256.
45.
Siegel, L. (1989). IQ is irrelevant to the definition of learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 469—478.
46.
Stanovich, K.E. (1986). Cognitive processes and the reading problems of learning disabled children: Evaluating the assumption of specificity. In J. Torgesen & B. Wong (Eds.), Psychological and educational perspectives on learning disabilities (pp. 87—131). New York: Academic Press.
47.
Stanovich, K.E. (1988). Explaining the differences between the dyslexic and the garden-variety poor reader: The phonological-core variable-difference model. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21, 590—604.
48.
Stanovich, K.E., & Siegel, L.S. (1994). The phenotypic performance profile of reading-disabled children: A regression-based test of the phonological-core variable-difference model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 24—53.
49.
Stringer, R., & Stanovich, K.E. (2000). The connection between reaction time and variation in reading ability: Unraveling covariance relationships with cognitive ability and phonological sensitivity. Scientific Studies of Reading, 4, 41—53.
50.
Tallal, P., Miller, S.L., Jenkins, W.M., & Merzenich, M.W. (1997). The role of temporal processing in developmental language-based learning disorders: Research and clinical implications. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading acquisition (pp. 49—66). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
51.
Tomblin, J.B. (1995). Midwest collaboration on specific language impairment . Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
52.
Tomblin, J.B., Records, N.L., Buckwalter, P., Zhang, X., Smith, E., & O'Brien, M. (1997). Prevalence of specific language impairment in kindergarten children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40, 1245—1260.
53.
Torgesen, J.K. (1989). Why IQ is relevant to the definition of learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 484— 486.
54.
Torgesen, J.K., Wagner, R.K., & Rashotte, C.A. (1994). Longitudinal studies of phonological processing and reading. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 27, 276— 286.
55.
Torgesen, J.K., Wagner, R.K., Rashotte, C.A., Burgess, S., & Hecht, S. (1997). Contributions of phonological awareness and rapid automatic naming ability to the growth of word-reading skills in second-to fifth-grade children. Scientific Studies in Reading, 2, 161—185.
56.
Tunmer, W.E., Herriman, M.L., & Nesdale, A.R. (1988). Metalinguistic abilities and beginning reading . Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 134—158.
57.
van den Bos, K.P., Zijlstra, B.J.H., & Spelberg, H.C.I. (2002). Lifespan data on continuous-naming speeds of numbers, letters, colors, and pictorial objects, and word-reading speed. Scientific Studies of Reading. 6, 25—49.
58.
Vellutino, F.R., Scanlon, D.M., & Spearing, D. (1995). Semantic and phonological coding in poor and normal readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 59, 76—123.
59.
Veron, P. A. (Ed.). (1987). Speed of information-processing and intelligence. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
60.
Wagner, R.K., Balthazor, M., Hurley, S., Morgan, S., Rashotte, C., Shaner, R., et al. (1987). The nature of preschoolers' phonological processing abilities. Cognitive Development, 2, 355—373.
61.
Wagner, R.K., & Torgesen, J.K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin,101, 1—21.
62.
Wagner, R.K., Torgesen, J.K., Laughon, P., Simmons, K., & Rashotte, C.A. (1993). The development of young readers' phonological processing abilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 1—20.
63.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.
Windsor, J., & Hwang, M. (1999). Testing the generalized slowing hypothesis in specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 42, 1205—1218.
66.
Wolf, M. (1997). A provisional integrative account of phonological and naming-speed deficits in dyslexia. In B. Blachman (Ed.), Foundation of reading acquisition (pp. 67—92). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
67.
Wolf, M., Bally, H., & Morris, R. (1986). Automaticity, retrieval processes, and reading: A longitudinal study of average and impaired readers. Child Development, 57, 988—1000.
68.
Wolf, M., & Bowers, P.G. (1999). The double-deficit hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 415—438.
69.
Wolf, M., Bowers, P.G., & Biddle, K. (2000). Naming-speed processes, timing, and reading: A conceptual review. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 387—407.
70.
Wolff, P.H. (1993). Impaired temporal resolution in developmental dyslexia. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 682, 87—103.
71.
Wolff, P.H., Michel, G., & Ovrut, M. (1990a). Rate and timing precision of motor coordination in developmental dyslexia. Developmental Psychology, 26, 349—359.
72.
Wolff, P.H., Michel, G., & Ovrut, M. (1990b). The timing of syllable repetitions in developmental dyslexia. Journal of Speech—Language—Hearing, 33, 281—289.
73.
Wolff, P.H., Michel, G., & Ovrut, M. (1990c). Rate variables and automatized naming in developmental dyslexia. Brain andLanguage, 39, 556—575.
