Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
We examine whether attention deficits underlie developmental dyslexia, or certain types of dyslexia, by presenting double dissociations between the two. We took into account the existence of distinct types of dyslexia and of attention deficits, and focused on dyslexias that may be thought to have an attentional basis: letter position dyslexia (LPD), in which letters migrate within words, attentional dyslexia (AD), in which letters migrate between words, neglect dyslexia, in which letters on one side of the word are omitted or substituted, and surface dyslexia, in which words are read via the sublexical route. We tested 110 children and adults with developmental dyslexia and/or attention deficits, using extensive batteries of reading and attention. For each participant, the existence of dyslexia and the dyslexia type were tested using reading tests that included stimuli sensitive to the various dyslexia types. Attention deficit and its type was established through attention tasks assessing sustained, selective, orienting, and executive attention functioning. Using this procedure, we identified 55 participants who showed a double dissociation between reading and attention: 28 had dyslexia with normal attention and 27 had attention deficits with normal reading. Importantly, each dyslexia with suspected attentional basis dissociated from attention: we found 21 individuals with LPD, 13 AD, 2 neglect dyslexia, and 12 surface dyslexia without attention deficits. Other dyslexia types (vowel dyslexia, phonological dyslexia, visual dyslexia) also dissociated from attention deficits. Examination of 55 additional individuals with both a specific dyslexia and a certain attention deficit found no attention function that was consistently linked with any dyslexia type. Specifically, LPD and AD dissociated from selective attention, neglect dyslexia dissociated from orienting, and surface dyslexia dissociated from sustained and executive attention. These results indicate that visuospatial attention deficits do not underlie these dyslexias.
Highlights
One of the paths that the research of developmental dyslexia takes is the quest for a cognitive underlying source for developmental dyslexia
We briefly describe the process of normal reading that we assume and the different types of dyslexia that stem from deficits in its different components, discuss the different attention functions and different types of attention deficits that stem from deficits in its different components, and discuss the relation between specific types of dyslexia and specific attention deficits
Appendix A details the relevant error rates in reading aloud for each of these participants- for each participant, errors of each type that occurred at a rate significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of an age-matched control group appear under the relevant dyslexia type
Summary
One of the paths that the research of developmental dyslexia takes is the quest for a cognitive underlying source for developmental dyslexia. In this research we examine whether attention deficits are a source for developmental dyslexia, by searching for dissociations between the two. In our investigation we applied a neuropsychological perspective that treats both reading and attention as multifaceted constructs and as a result differentiates between types of dyslexia and between types of attention difficulties. More than 10 types of developmental dyslexia have been identified, each resulting from deficits in different components of the reading process, and each having different characteristics (Marshall, 1984; Castles and Coltheart, 1993; Temple, 1997; Castles et al, 1999, 2006; Jones et al, 2011; Coltheart and Kohnen, 2012; Friedmann and Haddad-Hanna, 2014). In the current research we wish to explore the nature of the relation between specific types of www.frontiersin.org
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
