Evidence of a highly specific relationship between rapid automatic naming of digits and text-reading speed

• Published in: Brain and language Vol. 93; no. 2; pp. 152 - 159
• Main Authors: Savage, Robert, Frederickson, Norah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.05.2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Automatism - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Comprehension; Dyslexia - diagnosis; Dyslexia - psychology; Economically Disadvantaged; England (Reading); Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Language; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Phonetics; Production and perception of written language; Psycholinguistics; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reaction Time; Reading; Reading Fluency; Reading Rate; Reference Values; Semantics; Verbal Behavior; Vocabulary; United Kingdom (Reading); Human; Numeral; Reading; Language; Cognition; Text; Naming; Velocity
• ISSN: 0093-934X; 1090-2155
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2004.09.005

This paper explores the specificity of the relationship between rapid automatic naming and reading fluency. Reading accuracy, rate, and fluency was measured among a sample of 67 children, the majority of whom were very poor readers. Regression analyses revealed that phonological processing tasks predicted reading accuracy and comprehension whereas rapid digit (but not picture) naming predicted reading accuracy and rate. After further controlling reading accuracy, digit naming was still a significant predictor of reading rate. This suggests that rapid alphanumeric naming is a highly specific predictor of reading rate and that rapid digit naming and phonological processing are distinct contributors to different aspects of reading in poor readers.