The nature of reversible letter confusions in dyslexic and normal readers: misperception or mislabelling?

Abstract

Summary. An experiment was carried out to examine the extent and locus of the confusions which reversible letters have been observed to produce in the reading behaviour of dyslexic children. Using an extension of the Posner paradigm to collect speed and error data, the processing of reversible letters by dyslexic children was compared with that of both chronological and reading age controls. Results suggested that reversible letter confusions are errors of labelling rather than perception, and that dyslexic readers differ from normal readers of the same chronological age not in their perception of reversible letters but in their processing of them, within the name code. It was proposed that remedial programmes should concentrate on letter to sound mappings, particularly of reversible letters, rather than on largely unproductive programmes aimed at improving perception.