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Related Experiment Video

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Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

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Chicken or egg? Untangling the relationship between orthographic processing skill and reading accuracy.

S Hélène Deacon¹, Jenna Benere, Anne Castles

¹Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Psychology, Canada. helene.deacon@dal.ca

|October 28, 2011

Summary

Children develop orthographic processing skills through reading, not the other way around. This longitudinal study shows reading ability predicts skill growth in young learners.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Educational Psychology

Background:

Orthographic processing skill is crucial for reading.
The causal relationship between orthographic skill and reading ability remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the directionality of the relationship between orthographic processing skill and word reading ability.
To investigate whether orthographic processing skill or word reading ability drives development in the other.

Main Methods:

A three-year longitudinal study involving children from Grades 1 to 3.
Inclusion of standard measures for lexical and sublexical orthographic processing skill and word reading accuracy.
Control for vocabulary, non-verbal reasoning, and phonological awareness.

Main Results:

Word reading ability significantly predicted gains in orthographic processing skill across all measures and grade levels.
Orthographic processing skill did not predict subsequent progress in word reading ability.
These findings held true regardless of the specific orthographic processing measure or grade level.

Conclusions:

Orthographic processing skill appears to be acquired as a consequence of reading development in early elementary school.
Current common measures of orthographic processing skill may not reflect an independent factor supporting reading acquisition.
Reading practice is likely the primary driver for developing orthographic representations in young children.