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How Semantic Memory Impacts Narrative Comprehension in Children With Developmental Dyslexia
Caterina Artuso1, Francesco Bellelli2, Carmen Belacchi3
1Department of Education Sciences, University of Genova, Genova, Italy.
Dyslexia (Chichester, England)
|December 13, 2025
Summary
Children with developmental dyslexia (DD) rely more on thematic knowledge for narrative comprehension, unlike typical readers who use taxonomic knowledge. This highlights differing semantic processing in DD.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Semantic knowledge, encompassing taxonomic and thematic organization, is crucial for text comprehension.
- Children with developmental dyslexia (DD) often exhibit distinct cognitive profiles beyond decoding difficulties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differential roles of taxonomic and thematic semantic knowledge in narrative text comprehension among children with DD.
- To compare semantic knowledge utilization in children with DD versus a control group.
Main Methods:
- Sixty-two children with DD and a control group participated.
- Participants completed assessments of fluid intelligence, semantic working memory, and narrative text comprehension.
Main Results:
- Taxonomic knowledge correlated with text comprehension in the control group only.
- Thematic knowledge was the primary driver of narrative comprehension in the DD group.
Conclusions:
- Children with DD predominantly utilize thematic semantic knowledge for narrative comprehension, contrasting with typical readers.
- Findings deepen understanding of the cognitive and learning profiles in DD, emphasizing semantic representation differences.
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