Differences Between Semantic and Phonemic Verbal Fluency in Adolescents With Reading Disorders
Gitit Kavé1, Smadar Sapir-Yogev2
1Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University, Ra'anana, Israel.
Summary
Adolescents with reading disorders (RD) perform similarly on semantic fluency tasks but significantly lower on phonemic fluency tasks. Both tasks are crucial for accurate RD assessment in children.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Reading disorders (RD) impact language processing.
- Verbal fluency tasks are used to assess cognitive and linguistic skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the most effective verbal fluency task for assessing adolescents with reading disorders (RD).
- To differentiate the performance of adolescents with RD on semantic versus phonemic fluency tasks.
Main Methods:
- Eighty-three Hebrew-speaking adolescents (ages 12-15) participated.
- 42 participants had diagnosed reading disorders (RD).
- Participants completed semantic and phonemic fluency tasks; scores were standardized.
Main Results:
- Adolescents with RD showed similar scores on semantic fluency compared to controls.
- Adolescents with RD scored significantly lower on phonemic fluency tasks.
- Phonemic fluency scores, but not semantic, predicted spelling performance in the RD group.
Conclusions:
- Adolescents with RD exhibit age-appropriate semantic fluency but impaired phonemic fluency.
- Administering both semantic and phonemic fluency tasks is essential for comprehensive RD assessment.
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