Auditory temporal and reading disability

Abstract

Deficits in auditory processing have been proposed by many authors as an etiology of some cases of specific reading disability [e.g., P. Tallal, Brain Lang. 9, 182–198 (1980); E. B. Zurif and G. Carson, Neuropsychologia 8, 351–361 (1970)]. Such deficits arc hypothesized to impair precise perception of speech sounds, which in turn interferes with acquisition of sound-symbol correspondence when learning to read. This hypothesis was evaluated in six studies that used the Test of Basic Auditory Capabilities (TBAC) [Watson et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. I 71, S73 (1982)] to assess temporal processing. The first study found significant differences in temporal processing between normal and learning-disabled high school students, but these differences were not replicated in a second study with a college sample. The next two studies found substantial relationships between measures of academic aptitude/intelligence and temporal processing. The last two studies report correlations between the TBAC and performance on a variety of phonic analysis tasks. Few significant relationships were found when the effects of intelligence or academic aptitude were controlled. Overall, this series of studies fails to support the causal role of temporal processing deficits in the etiology of specific reading disabilty [Work supported by NIH.]