title: Symbol-string sensitivity and children's reading.
abstract: In this study of primary school children, a novel 'symbol-string' task is used to assess sensitivity to the position of briefly presented non-alphabetic but letter-like symbols. The results demonstrate that sensitivity in the symbol-string task explains a unique proportion of the variability in children's contextual reading accuracy. Moreover, developmental dyslexic readers show reduced sensitivity in this task, compared to chronological age controls. The results suggest that limitations set by visuo-spatial processes and/or attentional iconic memory resources may constrain children's reading accuracy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pammer
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lavis
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Piers L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D004410:Dyslexia; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008568:Memory; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D006113:United Kingdom