Measures Of Word Recognition Research Articles

Quantitative-Trait Locus for Specific Language and Reading Deficits on Chromosome 6p

Reading disability (RD), or dyslexia, is a complex cognitive disorder manifested by difficulties in learning to read, in otherwise normal individuals. Individuals with RD manifest deficits in several reading and language skills. Previous research has suggested the existence of a quantitative-trait locus (QTL) for RD on the short arm of chromosome 6. In the present study, RD subjects' performance in several measures of word recognition and component skills of orthographic coding, phonological decoding, and phoneme awareness were individually subjected to QTL analysis, with a new sample of 126 sib pairs, by means of a multipoint mapping method and eight informative DNA markers on chromosome 6 (D6S461, D6S276, D6S105, D6S306, D6S258, D6S439, D6S291, and D6S1019). The results indicate significant linkage across a distance of at least 5 cM for deficits in orthographic (LOD = 3.10) and phonological (LOD = 2.42) skills, confirming previous findings.

Benefits of multisensory structured language instruction for at-risk foreign language learners: A comparison study of high school Spanish students

In this study, the benefits of multisensory structured language (MSL) instruction in Spanish were examined. Participants were students in high-school-level Spanish attending girls’ preparatory schools. Of the 55 participants, 39 qualified as at-risk for foreign language learning difficulties and 16 were deemed not-at-risk. The at-risk students were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) MSL—multisensory Spanish instruction in self-contained classrooms (n=14); (2) SC—traditional Spanish instruction provided in self-contained classrooms (n=11); and (3) NSC—traditional Spanish instruction in regular (not self-contained) Spanish classes (n=14). Not-at-risk students (n=16) received traditional Spanish instruction in regular classes similar to the instruction provided to the NSC group. All three at-risk groups made significant gains over time on some native language skills regardless of teaching method. The MSL group also made significant gains on a foreign language aptitude measure. The MSL group and the not-at-risk group made greater gains than the two other at-risk groups on foreign language aptitude and native language measures of reading comprehension, word recognition, and pseudoword reading. Although most at-risk learners achieved an “expected” level of foreign language proficiency after two years of instruction, significant group differences were found. On measures of oral and written foreign language proficiency, the MSL and not-at-risk groups scored significantly higher than the at-risk groups instructed using traditional methods. After two years of Spanish instruction, no differences in foreign language proficiency were found between the MSL group and the not-at-risk group.

Cognitive correlates of mortality: evidence from a population-based sample of very old adults.

The authors examined performance on memory, visuospatial, and verbal tasks and subsequent mortality in adults 75-95 years. The sample consisted of 178 living and 44 deceased participants. Mean-level analyses revealed mortality group differences for all domains of cognitive functioning. A Cox regression analysis, independent of age, gender, education, functional ability, and chronic illness, indicated that measures of word recognition and category fluency were significant predictors of mortality status. The results indicate a relationship between cognitive performance and subsequent mortality status in very old age and suggest that episodic memory and verbal skill may be particularly sensitive in predicting such effects.

Lexical- and sentence-level processes in comprehension of written sentences

Two experiments and three measures of lexical skills (word finding, rapid automatized naming, receptive vocabulary) were administered to 24 third and 24 fifth graders. Each experiment included two between-subject variables (grade and sex) and four within-subject variables (mode of sentence presentation – one word and one-sentence-at-a-time; word type – orthographic, phonological and semantic foils; position of foil in sentence – beginning, middle, and end; and sentence type – meaningful and nonsense). The experiments contrasted on reading comprehension task: receptive sentence acceptability (Experiment 1) or expressive sentence reproduction (Experiment 2). One-word-at-a-time presentation, which highlights the lexical unit, resulted in better accuracy on the expressive task that required verbatim reproduction than on the forced choice receptive task. Word finding and rapid automatized naming that require active production of phonologically-referenced name codes, but not receptive vocabulary, were correlated with measures of word recognition and reading comprehension in the experiments and on the psychometric tests. These results are consistent with Perfetti's contention that a phonologically-based name code is the heart of lexical access.

At-Risk Readers and Community Volunteers: A 3-Year Perspective

The Charlottesville Volunteer Tutorial, known locally as Book Buddies, is a one-to-one community volunteer tutorial that is an integral part of the Charlottesville City Schools' plan to ensure that all first- and second-grade children learn to read. Analyses of the first 3 cohorts reveal the growing efficacy of the program. Participants with greater than 40 sessions significantly outperformed participants with fewer than 40 sessions on most pre- and posttest gain scores and on both outcome measures of text reading and word recognition. Effect size for word recognition in Cohort III was +1.29, considerably higher than effect sizes reported for other tutorials using paraprofessionals and volunteers. The gains over the years have demonstrated that 2 sessions of one-on-one tutoring per week, by a trained, supported, and supervised community volunteer for a minimum of 20 weeks, can be an effective and affordable alternative intervention for children at risk for reading failure.

The Relationships between Phonological Sensitivity, Syntactic Processing, and Verbal Working Memory in the Reading Performance of Third-Grade Children

The performance of 112 third-grade children was examined on tasks assessing phonological sensitivity, working memory, and syntactic processing. The children were also administered several measures of word recognition, pseudoword reading, and reading comprehension. A series of hierarchical regression analyses and commonality analyses indicated that phonological sensitivity remained a strong predictor of reading performance after variance in working memory and syntactic processing had been partialled out. However, syntactic processing failed to predict word recognition, pseudoword reading, and reading comprehension once working memory and phonological sensitivity had been partialled. The results support the phonological limitation hypothesis of Shankweiler et al. (1992) in which it is posited that correlations between reading difficulty and deficient syntactic awareness arise as epiphenomena of deficiencies in phonological processing.

Word Recognition and Spelling Processes in Specific Reading Disabled and Garden-variety Poor Readers

This study presents evidence relevant to the distinction between specific reading disability and non-specific or garden-variety reading difficulties. Within the context of a large scale longitudinal study of reading acquisition, regression techniques were used to define psychometrically extreme groups of specific and non-specific poor readers. Poor readers with IQs in the average to above average range and low IQ poor readers matched on age, sex and word recognition were administered a variety of word recognition and spelling measures. No significant differences were found on 25 out of 26 measures. The only statistically reliable difference emerged on the proportion of reading errors in which a real word was substituted for a regular high frequency word (MUST—‘most’). Overall, these data, together with the existing evidence, support the null hypothesis of no qualitative differences between specific and garden-variety poor readers.

Speech perception skills of children with multichannel cochlear implants or hearing aids: Miyamoto R.T.; Kirk K.I.; Todd S.L.; Robbins A.M.; Osberger M.J.Ann. Otol. Rhinol. Laryngol. (USA) (1995) 104/9 II Suppl. (334–337)

Perceptual skills were evaluated at two intervals of cochlear implant (CI) use in 24 children with prelingual deafness who received the Nucleus multichannel CI. Their performance was compared to that of age-matched children with prelingual profound hearing losses who used conventional hearing aids (HAs). The HA subjects were grouped by unaided thresholds: "gold" subjects (pure tone average of 92 dB hearing level) and "silver" subjects (pure tone average of 104 dB hearing level). The CI users' perceptual abilities increased significantly with time. At the "early" interval (mean, 2 months of CI use), performance of the CI and silver HA groups was similar on measures of phoneme, word, and sentence recognition; the gold HA subjects' performance was superior to that of the other groups. At the "late" interval, (mean, 2.5 years of CI use), CI subjects' performance exceeded that of the silver group on all measures, and was similar to that of the gold group on vowel recognition and auditory-plus-visual sentence recognition measures.

Captioned Television and the Vocabulary Acquisition of Adult Second Language Correlational Facility Residents

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of captioned television on the incidental vocabulary acquisition of seventy-two inmates of a Pennsylvania correctional facility. Participants viewed nine science information segments over a period of nine weeks. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group of inmates was exposed to the science video segments with captions and the other group viewed the same science video material without captions. No definitions or explanations of the target science words were given during the brief science orientation sessions that took place on a weekly basis. Three posttests were administered to assess the participants' acquisition of the targeted vocabulary words. The tests consisted of word recognition, sentence anomaly, and word meaning measures. A brief television viewing questionnaire was also developed to assess the participants' perception of knowledge gained via the science videos and their opinion of the use of captions with such material. The results revealed no significant differences between the two groups on the word recognition and sentence anomaly posttests. However, the word meaning test yielded significant differences ( p < .05) favoring the captioned television condition. In addition, the questionnaire data indicated that the participants responded very positively to the science videos and to the use of captions with science material. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the potential contributions of captions in the second language context.

Lexical discrimination and age at implantation.

Recent research suggests that prelingually deafened children implanted at an early age may obtain greater speech perception and language benefits than those children implanted at a later age. This investigation examined word recognition and lexical discrimination in pediatric cochlear implant users as a function of age at implantation. Two groups of prelingually deafened children who used the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implant participated in this study. The first group contained children who received their device between the ages of 2–5 years, and the second contained children who were implanted between the ages of 6–9 years. Speech perception performance was evaluated using a new measure, the Lexical Neighborhood Test, a traditional measure of word recognition, the PBK, and a measure of receptive language abilities (the PPVT or the Reynell Developmental Language Scales). Children implanted at a younger age had better word recognition performance and were better able to identify lexically difficult words (i.e., those that occur infrequently and have many other phonemically similar words with which they can be confused). Correlations with vocabulary and language performance will also be reported. [Work supported by NIDCD DC00064.]

An Evaluation of Computer-Assisted Instruction in Phonological Awareness with below Average Readers

The use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to train phonological awareness skills in at-risk first graders was evaluated. Fifty-four children ranging in age from six years two months to seven years eight months participated in an eight-week training study. There were three experimental conditions. The first group received approximately twenty-five minutes a day, four days a week with two phonological awareness training programs. The second group received the same amount of training with a program designed to train alphabetic decoding skills. The third group served as an attentional control group and spent equal time on the computer with several programs designed to provide practice on basic math skills. The children exposed to the phonological awareness training programs made significantly greater improvements on several measures of phonological awareness and on a measure of word recognition, when compared to children in the other two groups. Tentative conclusions were drawn about the use of CAI as means of training phonological awareness skills with at-risk students.

Predicting reading performance using the slingerland procedures

The purpose in this study was to examine predictive relationships between the Slingerland Pre- Reading Screening Procedures and performance on measures of word recognition and reading comprehension. Longitudinal data were collected on 104 children administered the Slingerland Procedures in kindergarten and the Stanford Achievement Test at first, third, and fifth grades. Outcome measures included achievement subtests, Word Study Skills, Reading Comprehension, Reading and Listening Total. Significant relationships were found between Slingerland measures and reading outcomes. However, prediction varied across grades and according to the measure of reading used. Listening contributed to reading comprehension but not to word recognition, and visual skills influenced early but not later reading performance. Gender and socioeconomic status influenced the strength of associations.

Cognitive and Motivational Determinants of Reading Comprehension in Good and Poor Readers

Cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational factors were examined as predictors of individual differences in the reading comprehension abilities of good and poor readers. Two hundred twenty seventh graders were measured on reading comprehension, and the top 30% and bottom 30% were identified as good and poor readers, respectively. Subjects were then measured on word recognition, metacognitive knowledge about text processing, perceived competence, and attributional beliefs about the reasons underlying academic outcomes. The results indicated that good readers in comparison to poor readers scored higher on the word recognition measure, possessed richer metacognitive knowledge, and had more positive beliefs about their academic abilities. Regression analyses indicated that word recognition and metacognition predicted reading comprehension in the whole sample; however, regression analyses within subgroups indicated that word recognition was the most important predictor variable for poor readers, whereas perceived competence predicted the reading comprehension abilities of good readers.

Scoring Spanish Word-Recognition Measures

Spanish word recognition scores were determined from 10 native Spanish-speaking listeners' written and oral responses to four Auditec lists (A, B, C, and D) of two-syllable Spanish words. An analysis of variance revealed that the word recognition scores derived from the oral responses were the same when scored by 15 native English-speaking judges with a knowledge of Spanish and when scored by 15 native English-speaking judges without a knowledge of Spanish (p > 0.01). To evaluate the accuracy with which these two groups of judges scored the oral responses, the absolute values of the numeric differences between the word recognition scores derived from the oral and written responses were determined. An analysis of variance of these absolute difference scores revealed a significant main effect of judges' knowledge of Spanish (p < .01). Although the difference between the groups of judges was statistically significant, this difference is of little clinical significance. The word recognition scores for written and oral responses differed on average by two percentage points when oral responses were scored by judges with a knowledge of Spanish and by three percentage points when oral responses were scored by the group without a knowledge of Spanish. These data indicate that English-speaking audiologists are competent to judge the accuracy of Spanish-speaking listeners' oral responses to Spanish word recognition measures.

Phonological Processing Deficits as the Basis of a Reading Disability

Stanovich (1988a, 1988b) has proposed that deficits in phonological processing are at the basis of reading problems. According to his theoretical approach, phonological processing constitutes a modular function that operates automatically and is independent of general cognitive ability. If this is the case, then phonological processing skills should be relatively independent of performance on IQ tests. The purpose of this study was to examine the evidence for the independence of phonological skills and general cognitive processes. To examine this hypothesis, regression analyses were conducted to examine the relative contribution of IQ and phonological processing skills to word recognition and reading comprehension. The correlations between IQ test scores and phonological processing skills were also examined. A sample of 1493 children, including both reading disabled and normally achieving children, was administered a variety of phonological processing, word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension measures. The phonological processing measures included pseudoword reading and spelling, recognizing the visual form of a pseudoword, and a phonological–lexical task that involved deciding whether a pseudoword could be pronounced like an English word. It was predicted that phonological skills should be the most significant correlate of reading performance and that IQ scores should contribute relatively little independent variance. In addition, it was predicted that the correlations of phonological processing and reading skills would be significantly higher than the correlations of IQ scores with reading skills. The results indicated that pseudoword reading skill was the most significant correlate of word recognition and reading comprehension scores and that IQ contributed little independent variance. Correlations among reading and phonological abilities were significantly higher than IQ with either of these abilities. Phonological processing deficits appear to be the fundamental problem of reading disabled individuals and there is evidence that phonological processing is a modular function that is relatively independent of general cognitive ability.

Children's literacy environments and early word recognition subskills

First-grade children completed a battery of tasks that included standardized measures of word recognition and spelling, measures of phonological and orthographic processing skill, and a short indicator of exposure to print via home literacy experiences. Phonological and orthographic processing skill were separable components of variance in word recognition. Orthographic processing ability accounted for variance in word recognition ability even after the variance in three phonological processing measures had been partialed. Additionally, variance in orthographic processing ability not explained by phonological abilities was reliably linked to differences in print exposure. The print exposure measure was not, however, linked to the measures of phonological processing. This finding was unexpected but it is consistent with some previous research. The theoretical implications of this result are discussed.

Depressive self-schemas in clinic and nonclinic children

Depressed, clinic-referred children were compared to nondepressed, clinic-referred children and to nondepressed, nonclinic children (ages 8–12) on three cognitive measures of positive and negative self-schemas. On word recognition measures, depressed subjects evinced a less positive self-schema, compared to the two nondepressed groups; however, all three groups recognized significantly more positive than negative self-referential words. On incidental word recall measures, depressed children again evinced less of a positive self-schema than did the nondepressed groups. Furthermore, only the nondepressed groups recalled significantly more positive than negative words. On reaction time measures, no differences emerged between the three groups. Results supported the relation of problematic cognitive self-schemas to depression in children, and suggested that such schemas affect both storage and accessibility of new information. Implications for future research are discussed.

Effects of Phonological Impairment on Word, Syllable, and Phoneme Segmentation and Reading

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the phonological awareness ability of children with persistent phonological impairment to that of phonologically normal children. We also studied the impact of speech intelligibility on beginning reading skills. Eleven moderate to severely unintelligible children and 11 phonologically normal children between the ages of 6:5 (years:months) and 8:6 were administered four measures of phonological awareness and one measure of word recognition (reading) ability. Phonologically normal children scored significantly higher on three of the four phonological awareness measures. There were no significant differences for word recognition. Multiple regression analysis yielded speech intelligibility as a highly significant predictor of performance on three of the four phonological awareness tasks. We concluded that phonological awareness is closely associated with productive phonological ability independent of mental age, chronological age, and educational experience.

Confirmatory factor analysis of word recognition and process measures in the Colorado Reading Project

Confirmatory factor analysis of word recognition and process measures in the Colorado Reading Project

An Examination of the Reading Performance of Students with Mild Educational Handicaps or Learning Disabilities

Reading performance is a primary concern in both regular and special education. Reading is also the dominant medium through which educators conduct lessons, or students acquire information in subjects such as science and mathematics. Reading performance can be measured in a variety of ways. The present study examined the performance of students with mild educational handicaps (n = 28) or learning disabilities (n = 38) on a combination of norm-referenced and curriculum-based assessment (CBA) approaches that used science content. Overall, there were no significant differences between the samples on measures of word recognition, but significant differences favoring students with learning disabilities did occur in comprehension.