Adult Readers Research Articles

Development and Validity of the Adult Reading History Questionnaire (ARHQ) for Chinese.

The Adult Reading History Questionnaire (ARHQ) is a popular instrument for screening dyslexia in adults. Yet, there is no evidence suggesting its applicability in Chinese. The present study aims to develop a Chinese Adult Reading History Questionnaire (Chinese-ARHQ) and to assess its validity among Chinese adults. A total of 2439 Chinese adults completed the questionnaire of Chinese-ARHQ with 2234 questionnaires valid for further analysis (Nmales = 825, Mage = 26.29 years, SDage = 9.12). Among these participants, 184 completed the questionnaire twice and 221 completed reading-related tests. Results showed that the Chinese-ARHQ had good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.88), and the test-retest reliability was 0.81. Three factors (current reading, dyslexia symptoms and memory) were extracted through exploratory factor analysis. The scores of Chinese-ARHQ and its factors were both related to reading and phonological skills, revealing the good criterion validity of the questionnaire. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the optimal threshold for the Chinese-ARHQ was 0.36 with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 75.9%. Additionally, adults screened by the Chinese-ARHQ (> 0.36) performed worse in reading and phonological awareness, further validating the Chinese-ARHQ as a reliable screening tool for Chinese dyslexia in adults.

Enhancing Abstractive Multi-Document Summarization with Bert2Bert Model for Indonesian Language

This study investigates the effectiveness of the proposed Bert2Bert and Bert2Bert+Xtreme models in improving abstract multi-document summarization for the Indonesian language. This study uses the transformer model as a basis for developing the proposed Bert2Bert and Bert2Bert+Xtreme models. The results of the model evaluation with the Liputan6 dataset using ROUGE-1, ROUGE-2, ROUGE-L, and BERTScore show that the proposed models have slight improvements over previous research models with Bert2Bert being better than Bert2Bert+Xtreme. Despite the challenges posed by limited reference summarization for Indonesian documents, content-based analysis using readability metrics, including FKGL, GFI, and Dwiyanto Djoko Pranowo revealed that the summaries generated by Bert2Bert and Bert2Bert+Xtreme are at a moderate readability level, which means they are suitable for adult readers and in line with the target audience of the news portal.

Neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with multiple cognitive domains in a community sample of older adults

ABSTRACT Greater neighborhood disadvantage is associated with poorer global cognition. However, less is known about the variation in the magnitude of neighborhood effects across individual cognitive domains and whether the strength of these associations differs by individual-level factors. The current study investigated these questions in a community sample of older adults (N = 166, mean age = 72.5 years, 51% women), who reported current addresses, linked to state-level Area Deprivation Index rankings, and completed remote and validated neuropsychological tests of verbal intelligence (North American Adult Reading Test), verbal fluency (Controlled Oral Word Association Test), attention (Digit Span Forward), and working memory (Digit Span Backward and Sequencing, Letter-Number Sequencing). Linear regressions tested associations between neighborhood disadvantage and each cognitive test, controlling for individual-level factors (age, sex, education). Exploratory analyses tested moderation by each individual-level factor. Independent of individual-level factors, greater neighborhood disadvantage was associated with lower cognitive performance across domains: verbal intelligence (β = 0.30, p < .001), verbal fluency (β = −0.19, p = .014), attention (β = −0.19, p = .024), and two of three tests of working memory (β = −0.17− −0.22, ps = .004−.039). Results were robust to correction for multiple comparisons and tests of spatial autocorrelation. In addition, higher neighborhood disadvantage was associated with lower verbal fluency for older – but not younger-older adults (p = .035) and with poorer working memory in women but not men (p < .001). Education did not moderate associations. Findings suggest that older adults living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods exhibit lower cognitive performance, particularly in the domain of verbal intelligence. Continued investigation of effect modification may be fruitful for uncovering for whom associations are strongest.

Temporal Unfolding of Spelling-to-sound Mappings in Visual (Non)word Recognition.

Behavioral research has shown that inconsistency in spelling-to-sound mappings slows visual word recognition and word naming. However, the time course of this effect remains underexplored. To address this, we asked skilled adult readers to perform a 1-back repetition detection task that did not explicitly involve phonological coding, in which we manipulated lexicality (high-frequency words vs. pseudowords) and sublexical spelling-to-sound consistency (treated as a dichotomous-consistent vs. inconsistent-and continuous dimension), while recording their brain electrical activity. The ERP results showed that the adult brain distinguishes between real and nonexistent words within 119-172 msec after stimulus onset (early N170), likely reflecting initial, rapid access to a primitive visuo-orthographic representation. The consistency of spelling-to-sound mappings exerted an effect shortly after the lexicality effect (172-270 msec; late N170), which percolated to the 353- to 475-msec range but only for real words. This suggests that, in expert readers, orthographic and phonological codes become available automatically and nearly simultaneously within the first 200 msec of the recognition process. We conclude that the early coupling of orthographic and phonological information plays a core role in visual word recognition by mature readers. Our findings support "quasiparallel" processing rather than strict cognitive seriality in early visual word recognition.

The Paradox of Historical Fiction

In light of the fact/fiction divide, this paper delves into the literary genre of historical fiction for young adults and re-examines the disputed boundaries between fact and fiction. Exploring Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, a work of historical fiction for young adults about life in Nazi-occupied Denmark, this discussion addresses the paradoxical nature of historical fiction: it is the fictional elements of historical fiction that play the crucial part in bringing historical facts closer to the young adult reader.

Super-Charlies mamma

Theme: Motherhood and Mothering. Ill. ©Stina Wirsén Super-Charlie’s Mum: Public Mothers, Adult Address, and Parasocial Relationships in Contemporary Swedish Picturebooks This article examines contemporary Swedish celebrity picturebooks in which the central characters share names with the children of the authors. The focus is on the relationship between the authors’ public personas and the maternal figures depicted in the books, as well as the ways in which such publications can be understood from a book market perspective. The analysis includes Margaux Dietz’ books about Arnold (2020–2021), Marie Serneholt’s books about Nico and Phille (2020–2021), and Camilla Läckberg’s first instalment in the Super-Charlie series (2011–). The rise of celebrity-authored children’s books has been a notable trend in the Anglo-American publishing industry, with parallel developments emerging in Sweden. The symbiotic relationship between celebrities eager to publish children’s literature and publishers seeking to capitalize on public figures is key to understanding the mechanisms that drive the production of such books. By integrating theoretical frameworks from children’s literature research, motherhood studies, and sociology of literature, this article demonstrates the value of a multifaceted disciplinary approach when analyzing the contemporary Swedish children’s book market. The article explores the adult address created by references to the authors’ actual lives — visible through texts, paratexts, and illustrations — which are primarily accessible to the adult reader. This phenomenon reflects the parasocial relationships that these books utilize to engage readers. As a result, different approaches to motherhood can be discerned: as a carer, a role-model, or a playfully distant star author. These variations of the literary mother figure comment on the authors’ public personas for the benefit of the adult readers, which in turn showcase the commercial possibilities surrounding motherhood, online and on the book market.

“Because she can fly”

What makes a fictional character someone’s favourite? One of the factors scholars have explored is overlapping identity markers, for instance when boy readers favour boy characters. This article extends that discussion to age by discussing data gathered in individual interviews and focus-group conversations with 18 readers between the ages of 9 and 75. In the interviews, readers were asked about their favourite character in the children’s book Iep! (1996) by Joke van Leeuwen. Readers up to the age of 14 all selected younger characters as their favourites, whereas older readers selected favourite characters from a wider range of age groups, including younger characters. Younger readers named distinct traits as their reason for selecting a character as their favourite, such as “Because she can fly”, whereas adult readers also cited external factors for liking a character, such as a character reminding them of someone. Regarding the characters that readers did not like, readers up to the age of 11 were unable to select a character they did not like, whereas the majority of adults found this easy. Of these unpopular characters, only a small minority were children; in the main, adult readers disliked adult characters. Interestingly, several child readers defended adult characters disliked by adult readers.

Mathematics Problem-solving in Arabic Children’s Picture Books: A Source for Developing Skills and Values

Objectives: Reading picture books to children has been one of the most engaging activities. However, studies argue that books that include mathematics do not meet the standards required. Additionally, not a lot is known about how problem-solving tasks are presented in these books. Exploring the mathematics problem-solving presentation in Arabic children's picture books in the form of stories is the purpose of this study. The study also seeks to verify to what extent these books follow the standards that enable their benefits. Methods: Employing the content analysis method, 24 picture books from two series were analyzed; 12 of which are originally written in Arabic and 12 are translated. Results &amp; Conclusions: Various aspects of children's story plots are uncovered, including posing, representation, solving the problem, and evaluation and interpretations. Most of these features are positive with very few that need to be revised and improved. The study concludes that adult readers' knowledge, expertise, and prior planning for the reading sessions are significant for children to gain the advantages expected and suggests that children's picture books should avoid presenting mathematical content in a didactic approach. In addition, checking the quality of picture books in home and classroom libraries is essential to ensure the best interaction children could have and acquire the advantages they offer.

The Role of Morphological Structure in Determining the Optimal Viewing Position During Visual Word Recognition in Beginning Readers.

The present study examines the role of morphemic units in the initial word recognition stage among beginning readers. We assess whether and to what extent sublexical units, such as morphemes, are used in processing French words and how their use varies with reading proficiency. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the perceptual and morphological effects on the recognition of words presented in central vision, using a variable-viewing-position technique. To explore changes during elementary school years, we tested children from the second and fourth grades, as well as adult readers. The percentage of correct word identification was highest near the center of the word, indicating an optimal viewing position for all three participant groups. Viewing position effects were modulated by age and the properties of the stimuli (length and morphological structure). Experiment 1 demonstrated that lexical decisions are influenced by morphological structure to a decreasing extent as reading skill develops. Experiment 2 revealed that morphological processing in children primarily relies on the orthographic information provided by morphemes (surface morphology), whereas proficient readers process morphological information at a more abstract level, exhibiting a genuine morphological-facilitation effect. Overall, our study strongly indicates that morphemic units play a crucial role in the initial stage of word identification in early reading development. This conclusion aligns with the "word and affix" model, which posits that morphological representations become increasingly independent of orthography as reading ability and word exposure improve.

Tracking Adults’ Eye Movements to Study Text Comprehension: A Review Article

Adult readers’ cognitive effort during text processing is often associated with their reading comprehension, learning ability, and achievement scores. The aim of this review is to examine and analyze the current literature on the use of eye tracking technology as a tool for assessing text comprehension. A systematic review was conducted and, after the final screening, 13 articles were analyzed that fell into three main areas: (a) eye movements during reading in print and digital media, (b) eye tracking in text comprehension with perspective effects, and (c) eye tracking in text comprehension with instructional strategy effects. The findings of this review showed that during reading, the amount of cognitive effort invested in text processing, whether induced by the text, the task, or the readers themselves, is usually reflected in longer total fixation times, both as a result of higher fixation frequencies and longer fixation durations.

Critical Religious Literacies and Opportunities for Alterity across YA Literature

This critical content analysis draws on a dataset of contemporary young adult texts receiving awards between 2012 and 2023 to examine opportunities for religiously informed alterity for readers, which we argue can be a productive experience for building critical religious literacy in young adult readers. We argue that young adult literature can serve as models of critical religious literacies when authors, characters, and historical figures engage in conflicted meaning-making as they experience slippages between their lived experiences and their religious and secular beliefs. The study aims to develop a framework for developing religious literacy that draws specifically on identity-laden and critical theories of literacy common within the English language arts. Furthermore, this study provides literacy scholars and practitioners with a robust set of textual resources that can be employed to support critical religious literacies.

Same same but different: The graded influence of vowel quality and prosodic prominence on letter detection.

This study investigates the impact of phonetic realisation and prosodic prominence on visual letter identification, focusing on the letter <e> in German bisyllabic words. Building upon previous research, a computerised letter search task was conducted with 78 skilled adult readers. Words featuring different phonetic realisations of <e > (/eː, ɛ, e, l̩, n̩, ɐ/) in stressed and unstressed first and second syllables were systematically included. Analyses of error rates and response times revealed a graded pattern in the detection of <e>, with the closed long (/eː/) and closed short (/e/) realisations being easiest to detect, open (/ɛ/) and near-open central (/ɐ/) vowels becoming incrementally harder, and silent vowels in syllabic consonants (/n̩/) being the most challenging. Results divided by position and stress of the syllable containing the target letter further indicated influences of prosodic prominence. The findings contribute to understanding the intricate interplay of grapheme-phoneme correspondences and prosodic structure in skilled readers' visual letter recognition.

Characterizing the Effects of Concussion and Head Impact Exposure: Design, Methods, and Participant Traits of the CARE 2.0 Study.

This article describes the design, methods, and participant characteristics of the second phase of the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium study ("CARE 2.0") of the effects of concussion and repetitive head impact exposure on neuropsychiatric health. The authors conducted a prospective multisite observational study of male and female collegiate athletes and military service academy cadets and midshipmen participating in the CARE study. Participants were assessed at three time points: undergraduate baseline (UB), before departure from university or service academy (exit), and up to 6 years following graduation (postgrad) via an online battery of brain health assessments. Participant characteristics were compared across the three time points and four levels of head impact exposure. A total of 4,643 participants completed the exit assessment, and 3,981 completed the postgrad assessment. Relative to the UB assessment cohort, the exit and postgrad assessment cohorts differed with respect to the percentage of women, baseline Wechsler Test of Adult Reading scores, National Collegiate Athletic Association division category, sport contact level, and number of previous concussions. The median standardized difference across balancing variables, assessment time points, and degree of head impact exposure was 0.12 (with 90% of effect sizes ≤0.29). Although there were some statistically significant differences between participants across assessments, the effect sizes were modest, and overall the data suggest that the exit and postgrad cohorts reflect the characteristics of the baseline cohort. The CARE study design and its large, richly characterized sample provide an opportunity to answer important questions about cumulative and persistent effects of concussion and repetitive head impact exposure on neuropsychiatric health.

Pulsed lighting for adults with Dyslexia: very limited impact, confined to individuals with severe reading deficits

The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of pulsed lighting on the reading performance of young adults with dyslexia. A total of 42 participants were recruited, including individuals diagnosed with developmental dyslexia and adults without reported reading difficulties. The severity of each participant’s reading deficit was assessed on a continuous scale using a reading impairment score, derived from four reading tests: an isolated-word reading test, a pseudoword reading test, and two reading fluency tests. The impairment score ranged from 0 (no impairment) to 4 (severe impairment across all tests). To examine the potential effect of pulsed lighting, we measured (1) sentence reading speed, expressed as a reading accessibility index (ACC), and (2) text comprehension, expressed as a comprehension score. These measures were taken under three lighting conditions: standard lighting, pulsed lighting, and a combination of the two. Linear mixed-effects models were applied to assess the effects of lighting on ACC and comprehension, controlling for the reading impairment score. We found no effect of lighting conditions on either ACC or comprehension, except in the most impaired readers, who showed a small but significant increase of 7% in ACC. However, even with pulsed lighting, impaired readers did not reach the performance level of skilled adult readers. In conclusion, the study did not demonstrate a clear positive impact of pulsed lighting on the reading skills of adults with dyslexia.

The prediction limits of the National Adult Reading Test and its abbreviated and international variants.

Premorbid tests estimate cognitive ability prior to neurological condition onset or brain injury. Tests requiring oral pronunciation of visually presented irregular words, such as the National Adult Reading Test (NART), are commonly used due to robust evidence that word familiarity is well-preserved across a range of neurological conditions and correlates highly with intelligence. Our aim is to examine the prediction limits of NART variants to assess their ability to accurately estimate premorbid IQ. We examine the prediction limits of 13 NART variants, calculate which IQ classification system categories are reachable in principle, and consider the proportion of the adult population in the target country falling outside the predictable range. Many NART variants cannot reach higher or lower IQ categories due to floor/ceiling effects and inherent limitations of linear regression (used to convert scores to predicted IQ), restricting clinical accuracy in evaluating premorbid ability (and thus the magnitude of impairment). For some variants this represents a sizeable proportion of the target population. Since both higher and lower IQ categories are unreachable in principle, we suggest that future NART variants consider polynomial or broken-stick fitting (or similar methods) and suggest that prediction limits should be routinely reported.

Phonological, orthographic and morphological skills are related to structural properties of ventral and motor white matter pathways in skilled and impaired readers

Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we assessed the extent to which fractional anisotropy values in the dorsal (i.e., arcuate fasciculus; AF) versus ventral (i.e., inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus; IFOF) distinction of structural white matter pathways associated with selected reading processes, could be replicated in skilled adult readers (N = 17) and extended to adults with reading impairments (N = 13). In addition to the AF and IFOF, motor-based tracts (i.e., posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) and the frontal aslant tract (FAT)) were isolated to explore their role in reading performance. Several interesting relationships with reading performance emerged. First, orthographic awareness was related to the left IFOF in skilled readers, whereas orthographic awareness was related to left PLIC for impaired readers. Morphological awareness was related to left FAT for skilled readers, whereas morphological awareness was related to right AF, right IFOF and left PLIC for impaired readers. Overall, these findings support the notion that adult reading performance (both skilled and impaired) is related to the structural properties of the ventral white matter pathways. More consideration should be paid to motor pathways, particularly the PLIC, and their role in compensatory reading strategies in individuals with reading impairments.

그림책으로 읽어보는 어린이의 몸과 건강: 푸코의 지식, 권력과 담론을 기초로

Objectives This study aimed to analyze how picture books discuss and represent children's bodies and health, as well as to uncover their underlying meanings, utilizing the concepts of knowledge, power, and discourse by the post-structuralist M. Foucault. Methods To achieve this, a discourse analysis was conducted using Foucault's techniques of discipline, surveillance, and normalization on 132 picture books selected through the search of the National Library for Children and Young Adults. Results The findings revealed that these picture books reflect the standards and norms set by our society regarding children's bodies and health. They utilize the authority and status of specialized knowledge in fields such as medicine, nutrition, psychology, and sports science to regulate children's bodies by presenting different arrangements of healthy or vulnerable bodies and establishing hierarchical knowledge to secure a standardized body position. The multiplicity of voices, including the voice of narrators, illustrations, and the voice of adult readers, intertwined with gazes between characters, exerted the power of reward and punishment, allowing child readers to self-regulate regarding their bodies and health. Moreover, the ideal characteristics of children's bodies and health were reinforced through powerful discourses structured around expectations, commands, conventions, norms, declarations, and linked to broader societal discourses such as risk and deficiency, differentiated by age and gender. Conclusions The meaning and discourse surrounding children's healthy bodies were discussed within the context of how societal discourses, including risk and deficiency discourses based on age and gender, also regulate children's bodies and health. Picture books by adopting a narrative form can become a mechanism of power that (re)produces and disseminates knowledge and discourse about children.

Editions of Works by A.S. Pushkin in the Russian Abroad (1917–1988): To the 225th Anniversary of his Birth

For the first time, the history of publication of works by A.S. Pushkin is restored in Russian Abroad. The chronology of the periods of publications of the poet in emigration is reconstructed. There, the works of A.S. Pushkin’s works were published in all types of publications – in academic ones, works collections, selected works, publications for adult readers children, for educational purposes. The main attention was paid to the publishing houses that published the books of the great Russian poet in the capitals and in the main centers of the book business of the Russian emigration. In Berlin, the greatest number of the great Russian poet’s works were published by the publishing houses “I.P. Ladyzhnikov”, “Petropolis”, “Slovo”, “Neva”, and “Literatura”. In Paris, it is necessary to highlight the publishing houses of “E. Siyalskaya”, “Illustrated Russia”, “S. Lifar”. In Prague, A.S. Pushkin was published by “Nasha Rech”, “Kremlin”, “Slavyanskoe Publishing House” and “Khutor”. Celebrating the centenary of the tragic death of the great poet resulted in renewal of A.S. Pushkin works publications. The activities of the “Central Pushkin Committee in Paris” are highlighted. The features of A.S. Pushkin publications are explained for emigrants in Estonia and Latvia and the local Russian population. The main centers of the provincial book business of the Russian emigration in Harbin, Shanghai, and Buenos Aires are shown. The emergence of the second wave of Russian emigration contributed to a new period of publication of A.S. Pushkin’s books. The publishing activity of Russian emigrants in camps for displaced persons is studied. A brief outline of the history of DР publishing houses is given.

A - 70 Contextualizing Racial/Ethnic Differences in Baseline Assessment among Collegiate Athletes

Abstract Objective Compared to other factors that influence neuropsychological test performance, few studies have examined the relationship between racial/ethnic identity and baseline assessment performance in collegiate athletes, and even fewer have contextualized results using structural factors linked to test performance (e.g., premorbid cognitive ability). This study examined racial/ethnic differences in baseline assessment performance before and after controlling for premorbid functioning. We hypothesized that there would be racial/ethnic differences in performance but that controlling for premorbid functioning would reduce these differences. Method Participants included 875 collegiate athletes who were grouped based on racial/ethnic identity (White = 661, Black = 165, Another Race = 49) and underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Cognitive composite scores and intraindividual variability (IIV) were calculated for two neurocognitive domains: attention/processing speed and memory. Premorbid functioning was assessed with the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR). ANCOVAs were used to examine racial/ethnic differences in these four cognitive domains before and after controlling for WTAR scores. Results Before controlling for WTAR scores, there were significant racial/ethnic differences in the attention/processing speed and memory composite scores and in attention/processing speed IIV, p’s &amp;lt; 0.001, ηp2 = 0.02–0.03. However, there were no significant racial/ethnic differences in memory IIV, p = 0.97. After controlling for WTAR scores, there were no significant racial/ethnic differences in the attention/processing (p = 0.530, ηp2 = 0.001) or memory (p = 0.183, ηp2 = 0.004) composite scores, and the relationship between racial/ethnic identity and attention/processing speed IIV became less significant (p = 0.014, ηp2 = 0.01). Conclusions Results suggest that racial/ethnic differences at baseline assessment can be largely accounted for by premorbid functioning, which underscores the importance of considering sociocultural context when assessing racially/ethnically diverse athletes.

Two-Spirit Pedagogy in Surviving the City, Vol. 2: From the Roots Up

ABSTRACT: This essay analyzes how From the Roots Up , volume 2 of Inninew/Trinidadian writer Tasha Spillett and Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan’s graphic novel Surviving the City , furthers their exploration of the meaning of Indigenous youth health and well-being by addressing the needs and challenges of Two-Spirit people. In From the Roots Up , Spillett and Donovan depict not only the protagonist’s acknowledgement of their Two-Spirit identity, but also the range of responses Dez encounters as they come to know and claim their gender and desire in the environment of an urban Canadian secondary school. Health, then, applies to much more than physical well-being, as Spillett and Donovan craft the teens’ experiences to consider issues of psychological and community wellness. In the process, From the Roots Up functions as a pedagogical project that teaches both young and adult readers healthy ways to engage with the intersections of queerness and Indigeneity. On the one hand, Spillett and Donovan explicitly teach Two-Spirit histories and illustrate productive approaches to queer Indigenous presents/presence, while, on the other, they directly critique the ways in which conservative understandings of “tradition” can be used as antiqueer hegemonic tools within Indigenous communities and so-called safe spaces.