Richard S. Kruk

The Incidence and Nature of Letter Orientation Errors in Reading Disability

Letter orientation confusions (reversals) in the reading and writing of 10-year-old children with and without reading disability were investigated to determine whether reading disability is associated with letter orientation errors and to identify the nature of the errors. In a variety of tasks measuring letter orientation confusions in reception (reversal detection and recognition) and production (controlled writing, copying), individuals with reading disability made more orientation confusions than average readers. Orientation errors were more frequent for reversible than for nonreversible items in tasks involving long-term memory processes. The results did not appear to be related to group differences in attention or speed of motor responding. Possible sources of orientation confusions, including deficient magnocellular system processing, mislabeling, and overreliance on visual strategies, are discussed.

Visual processing characteristics of children with Meares-Irlen syndrome.

The potential role of visual processing deficits in reading difficulty was brought to public attention by claims that a large proportion of children with dyslexia suffer from a perceptual dysfunction currently referred to as Meares–Irlen syndrome (MISViS). A previous study showing that visual perceptual measures involving visual memory and discrimination predict independent variance in reading achievement [J. Learn. Disabil. 28 (1995) 216] provides a basis to examine their relationships with the diagnostic criteria of MISViS. This study examined these visual processing characteristics in 36 eight‐ to ten‐year‐old children, half of whom were experiencing reading difficulty. Children were assessed for MISViS by Irlen screeners; approximately half of the participants in each group were positively identified. Concurrent performance on standardized visual processing tests showed that while a positive diagnosis of MISViS is not indicative of reading ability, nor in particular of a visual‐processing deficit subtype identified by Watson and Willows [J. Learn. Disabil. 28 (1995) 216], MISViS can indicate visual processing difficulties potentially related to visual attention inefficiency.

French Immersion Experience and Reading Skill Development in At-Risk Readers.

We tracked the developmental influences of exposure to French on developing English phonological awareness, decoding and reading comprehension of English-speaking at-risk readers from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Teacher-nominated at-risk readers were matched with not-at-risk readers in French immersion and English language programs. Exposure to spoken French phonetic and syllabic forms and to written French orthographic and morphological forms by children attending French immersion programs was expected to promote phonological, decoding and reading comprehension achievement. Growth in all outcomes was found, with children in immersion experiencing higher final status in phonological awareness and more rapid growth and higher final status in decoding, using multilevel modeling. At-risk readers in French immersion experienced faster growth and higher final status in reading comprehension. Benefits to reading of exposure to an additional language are discussed in relation to cross-language transfer, phonological grain size and enhanced executive control processes.

Backward Pattern Masking of Familiar and Unfamiliar Materials in Disabled and Normal Readers

A discrimination task involving backward pattern masking was designed to investigate differences between disabled and normal readers in text perception. Masking was observed for both groups with unfamiliar Japanese materials, but disabled readers were less sensitive in discriminating than were normal readers. The same result was obtained with Roman letters, despite the high familiarity of materials to both groups, and with nonwords and words. A significant interaction between group and stimulus onset asynchrony, indicating that disabled readers recovered from masking at a slower rate than normal readers, was found only with nonwords. Visual factors alone could not have mediated group differences. A subgroup of disabled readers, formed on the basis of susceptiblity to masking, showed evidence of a deficit in rate of visual processing. The results are likely due to differences in the quality of representations of visual information used in discrimination and in word recognition.

Beyond Phonology: Visual Processes Predict Alphanumeric and Nonalphanumeric Rapid Naming in Poor Early Readers.

Visual processes in Grade 1 were examined for their predictive influences in nonalphanumeric and alphanumeric rapid naming (RAN) in 51 poor early and 69 typical readers. In a lagged design, children were followed longitudinally from Grade 1 to Grade 3 over 5 testing occasions. RAN outcomes in early Grade 2 were predicted by speeded and nonspeeded visual processing measures, after controlling for initial (Grade 1) RAN, matrix reasoning, phonological awareness, and word decoding abilities. A predictive influence of backward visual masking—a speeded visual discrimination task—was found for nonalphanumeric RAN in early Grade 2 but not for alphanumeric RAN or subsequent RAN ability in Grades 2 and 3. A nonspeeded predictor involving controlled visual attention accounted for significant variance in early Grade 2 RAN in the poor early reader group. Results are discussed in relation to Wolf, Bowers, and Biddle’s conceptualization of rapid naming—in particular, on the roles of visual processes in speeded low and nonspeeded high spatial frequency visual information in predicting RAN.