Abstract
Book reading shows large individual variability and correlates with better language ability and more empathy. This makes reading exposure an interesting variable to study. Research in English suggests that an author recognition test is the most reliable objective assessment of reading frequency. In this article, we describe the efforts we made to build and test a Dutch author recognition test (DART for older participants and DART_R for younger participants). Our data show that the test is reliable and valid, both in the Netherlands and in Belgium (split-half reliability over .9 with university students, significant correlations with language abilities) and can be used with a young, non-university population. The test is free to use for research purposes.
Highlights
There is a large variability in the amount of language people are exposed to
We discuss a Dutch Author Recognition Test (DART) we developed independently of Koopman (2015)
Given that the DART is built on the same principles as the English author recognition tests, we can expect to find similar correlations as those listed in Table 1, if the test reliably measures author knowledge and if it differentiates well
Summary
There is a large variability in the amount of language people are exposed to. This starts from a very early age on. Gilkerson et al (2017) measured spoken language in over 300 families with children younger than three years. To measure the usefulness of the ART and MRT, Stanovich and West (1989) correlated the test scores, together with the results of a reading questionnaire, to the outcome of a spelling test. Most authors have interpreted the positive correlation between ART and ToM performance as a causal effect from reading fiction to understanding others.
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