The relation of auditory, visual, and auditory-visual matching to reading performance of Israeli children

Six same-different matching tests, both verbal and nonverbal, in three modalities, along with a set of reading tests, were administered to 120 Israeli children in second, third, and fourth grade. The main effect of all S variables, except sex (grade, socioeconomic level, and ability) were significant, as were the test factors of modality (visual, auditory, cross-modal) and form (verbal-nonverbal), but interactions between S and test factors were small. Multiple regression analysis revealed that overall matching test scores accounted for 35% of the variance in reading scores, although the additional contribution of specific subtests was negligible. Performance on the visual-visual tests was virtually perfect. Auditory-auditory matches were more difficult than auditory-visual matches with nonverbal stimuli, while the reverse was true with verbal stimuli.