Debska-Luniewska-2021
Authors: Agnieszka Dębska, Magdalena Łuniewska.
Publication: 2021 | DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/ry6wx
Research highlights
Abstract
This study focused on the role of numerous cognitive skills such as phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), visual and selective attention, auditory skills, and implicit learning in developmental dyslexia. We examined the (co)existence of cognitive deficits in dyslexia and assessed cognitive skills’ predictive value for reading.
First, we compared school-aged children with severe reading impairment (n = 51) to typical readers (n = 71) to explore the individual patterns of deficits in dyslexia. Children with dyslexia, as a group, presented low PA and RAN scores, as well as limited implicit learning skills. However, we found no differences in the other domains. We found a phonological deficit in 51%, and a RAN deficit in 26% of children with dyslexia. These deficits coexisted in 14% of children. Deficits in other cognitive domains were uncommon and most often coexisted with phonological or RAN deficits. Despite having a severe reading impairment, 26% of children with dyslexia did not present any of the tested deficits.
Second, in a group of children presenting a wide range of reading abilities (N = 211), we analyzed the relationship between cognitive skills and reading level. PA and RAN were independently related to reading abilities. Other skills did not explain any additional variance. The impact of PA and RAN on reading skills differed. While RAN was a consistent predictor of reading, PA predicted reading abilities particularly well in average and good readers with a smaller impact in poorer readers.
Dębska, A., & Łuniewska, M. (2021, May 26). The cognitive basis of dyslexia in school-aged children: a multiple case study in a transparent orthography. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ry6wx
- Our results emphasized the independent role of RAN and phonological skills in predicting the
reading level. This is in line with the double-deficit theory of dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers,
1999), where RAN and phonological skills are treated as two separate sources of reading
difficulties….. - In our study, 14% of children with dyslexia showed an implicit learning deficit, and this skill
differentiated between typical and poor readers. This deficit was not accompanied by any
other deficit in the case of five out of seven children. . . . In our sample, only one child had coexisting phonological and implicit
learning deficits. The clear distinction between phonological and implicit learning deficits
may suggest that implicit learning is a skill that may explain a certain number of dyslexia
cases independently from RAN and phonology, probably due to the problems with implicit
learning. - Around 24% of children with dyslexia in our sample showed no apparent cognitive deficit in
phonology, RAN nor implicit learning. - We noted that weak phonological and RAN deficits did not lead to
dyslexia when not accompanied by each other. Among children who scored below -1SD in
phonological awareness alone there were 11 typical readers (39%) and 17 children with
dyslexia (61%), and among children with a weak RAN deficit, there was an equal number of
typical (n = 10) and impaired readers. However, among children who scored below -1SD in
phonological and RAN skills at the same time, there were 95% of children with dyslexia (n =
18) and just one typical reader. - Rapid naming appears to be the most stable predictor of reading, regardless of the reading level whereas phonology explains variability in average and good but not poor readers.
