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Visual processing speed as a marker of immaturity in lexical but not sublexical dyslexia
Stefanac, Nicole Spencer-Smith, Megan Brosnan, Méadhbh Vangkilde, Signe Castles, Anne Bellgrove, Mark
Stefanac, Nicole
Spencer-Smith, Megan
Brosnan, Méadhbh
Vangkilde, Signe
Castles, Anne
Bellgrove, Mark
Abstract
A visual attention span (VAS) deficit has been widely reported in the Developmental Dyslexia (DD) literature, however, consensus regarding what underlies this problem and the nature of its relationship with reading ability remains elusive. Thirty-two children with DD (15 females) were compared with 23 age matched (12 females) and 17 reading matched controls (9 females) on the combined Theory of Visual Attention (CombiTVA) paradigm with traditional letter and novel symbol conditions. The DD group performed more slowly than the age matched controls in terms of processing speed, but similarly to reading matched controls. Moderation analyses revealed that the difference between the DD group and age matched controls was driven by children with equivalent, or relatively poorer, lexical compared with sublexical reading profiles. Results suggest that reduced processing speed indexes reading immaturity, particularly in DD individuals with relative lexical reading deficits, rather than being a unique contributor to reading dysfunction.
Keywords
developmental dyslexia, visual attention span, theory of visual attention, processing speed, reading profile
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Cortex
Book
Volume
120
Issue
Page Range
567-581
Article Number
ACU Department
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled