In this paper we discuss the results of a study that identified the relationships between different cognitive functions, as measured by selected subtests of the Senior South African Individual Scale — Revised (SSAIS-R) and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability — Revised (Neale). The SSAIS-R subtests included Vocabulary, Similarities, Story Memory, and Coding. The Neale assesses three different components of reading, namely, rate, accuracy, and comprehension. The sample consisted of 32 Grade 2 boys attending an English-medium, private school in Gauteng and a matched group of girls attending the sister school. Moderate, significant correlations were found between the Vocabulary and Similarities subtests and components of the Neale for both girls and boys. The Story Memory subtest was correlated with components of the Neale for the girls sample only, while no significant relationship was found between the Coding subtest and any aspects of reading for either gender group. The boys scored significantly higher than the girls on the Vocabulary and Similarities subtests, as well as on the reading comprehension component of the Neale, while the girls scored significantly higher on the non-verbal Coding subtest. The implications of these findings are discussed.
AaronP.G. (1997). Dyslexia and Hyperlexia. Boston, MA: Kluwer.
2.
AdamsM.J. (1996). Beginning to read. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
3.
ArlinP. (1981). Piagetian tasks as predictors of reading and math readiness in Grades K-1. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 712–721.
4.
BeeH.BoydD. (2004). The developing child. Boston: Pearson.
5.
BjorklundD. F. (2005). Children's thinking. NJ, Australia: Thompson.
6.
BradshawJ. L.NettletonN. C. (1983). Human cerebral asymmetry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
7.
CartsH. W.GillespieL. B.KailR. V.MillerC. A. (2004). The role of speed of processing, rapid naming and phonological awareness in reading achievement. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 509–524.
8.
ColtheartM.CurtisB.AtkinsP.HallerM. (1993). Models of reading aloud: Dual route and parallel-distributed-processing approaches. Psychological Review, 100, 598–608.
9.
CoxD.WatersH. S. (1986). Sex differences in the use of organisational strategies: A developmental analysis. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 41, 18–37.
10.
DasJ. P. (1998). Reading difficulties and dyslexia. New Jersey: Sarka Educational Resources Inc.
11.
DasJ. P.ParillaR. K.PapadopoulosT. C. (2000). In KozulinA.RandY. (Eds.), Experience of mediated learning: An impact of Feuerstein's theory in Education and Psychology (pp. 274–291). Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd.
12.
De BruinK.De BruinG. P.DercksenS.Cilliers-HartsliefM. (2005). Predictive validity of general intelligence and Big Five measures for adult basic education and training outcomes. South African Journal of Psychology, 35, 46–57.
13.
FeingoldA. (1988). Cognitive gender differences are disappearing. American Psychologist, 43, 95–103.
14.
FlynnJ. R. (1998). Israeli military IQ tests: Gender differences small; IQ gains large. Journal of Biosocial Science, 30, 541–553.
15.
FoxcroftC.RoodtG. (2005). An introduction to psychological assessment in the South African context (2nd edn.). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
16.
GoldsteinG.NussbaumP.D.BeersS.R. (1998). Neuropsychology. New York: Plenum Press.
17.
GregoryR. J. (1999). Foundations of Intellectual Assessment. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
18.
HalpernD. F. (1997). Sex differences in cognitive abilities. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
19.
HøienT.LundbergI. (1992). Dyslexi. Stockholm: Natur och Kiltur.
20.
HowellD. C. (1997). Fundamental statistics for the behavioural sciences. Pacific Grove: Duxbury Press.
21.
HoyleR. H. (1999). Statistical strategies for small sample research. California: SAGE Publications Inc.
22.
HydeJ. S.LinnM. C. (1988). Gender differences in verbal ability. A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 53–69.
23.
JensenA. R. (1980). Bias in mental testing. New York: Free Press.
24.
JitendraA. K.EdwardsL. L.StarsotaK.SacksG.JacobsonL. A.ChoutkaC. M. (2004). Early reading instruction for children with reading difficulties: Meeting the needs of diverse learners. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37, 421–439.
25.
KaufmanA. S. (1990). Assessment of adolescent and adult intelligence. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
26.
KirkR. E. (1995). Experimental design procedures for the behavioural sciences (3rd edn). California: Brooks/Cole.
27.
LeppänenU.NiemiP.AunolaK.NurmiJ. (2004). Development of reading skills among preschool and primary school pupils. Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 72–93.
28.
LiedermanJ.KantrowitzL.FlanneryK. (2005). Male vulnerability to reading disability is not likely to be a myth: A call for new data. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38, 109–129.
29.
LezakM. D.HowiesonD. B.LoringD. W. (2004). Neuropsychological assessment (4th edn). New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
MertonR. K. (1968). The Matthew effect in science. Science, 159, 56–63.
31.
MoseleyD. (1980). An evaluation of verbal, spatial and numerical sequencing scores in the WISC and WISC-R, with special reference to children with reading difficulties. Journal of Research in Reading, 3, 38–51.
32.
MuterV.HulmeC.SnowlingM. J.StevensonJ. (2004). Phonemes, rimes, Vocabulary and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 40, 665–681.
33.
NealeM. D. (1989). Neale Analysis of Reading Ability. Berkshire: NFER-NELSON Publishing Co.
34.
OttemE. (1998). Interpreting the WISC-R subtest scores of reading impaired children — a structural approach. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 39, 1–7.
35.
RobinsonM.HanekomA. (1994). In Van EedenR.RobinsonM.PosthumaA. B. (Eds.), Studies on South African individual intelligence scales (pp. 44–62). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
36.
SavageR. S.CornishK.ManlyT.HollisC. (2006). Cognitive processes in children's reading and attention: The role of working memory, divided attention, and response inhibition. British Journal of Psychology, 97, 365–385.
37.
SavageR. S.FredericksonN.GoodwinR. S.PatniU.SmithN.TuersleyL. (2005). Relationships among rapid digit naming, phonological processing, motor automaticity, and speech perception in poor, average and good readers and spellers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38, 12–28.
38.
SeymourP. (1987). In ColtheartM.SortoriG.JobR. (Eds.), The cognitive neuropsychology of language (pp. 351–395). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
39.
SeymourP. (2000). Socio-economic differences in foundation-level literacy. British Journal of Psychology, 91, 145–166.
40.
SpoonerA. L. R.BaddeleyA. D.GathercoleS. E. (2004). Can reading accuracy and comprehension be separated in the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability?British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 187–204.
41.
StanovichK. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360–398.
42.
StanovichK. E. (1996). Toward a more inclusive definition of dyslexia. Dyslexia, 2, 154–166.
43.
SternbergR. J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. In McKeownM. G.CurtisM. E. (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 89–105). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
44.
Van EedenR. (1991). Manual for the Senior South African Individual Scale — Revised (SSAIS-R). Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
45.
Van EedenR.VisserD. (1992). The validity of the Senior South African Individual Scale — Revised (SSAIS-R) for different population groups. South African Journal of Psychology, 22, 163–171.
46.
WatersH. S.SchreiberL. L. (1991). Sex differences in elaborative strategies: A developmental analysis. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 52, 319–335.
47.
YuleW.RigleyL. V. (1982). Predicting future reading achievement from the WPPSI. Journal of Research in Reading, 5, 67–74.
