title: Relationships among rapid digit naming, phonological processing, motor automaticity, and speech perception in poor, average, and good readers and spellers.
abstract: In this article, we explore the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and other cognitive processes among below-average, average, and above-average readers and spellers. Nonsense word reading, phonological awareness, RAN, automaticity of balance, speech perception, and verbal short-term and working memory were measured. Factor analysis revealed a 3-component structure. The first component included phonological processing tasks, RAN, and motor balance. The second component included verbal short-term and working memory tasks. Speech perception loaded strongly as a third component, associated negatively with RAN. The phonological processing tests correlated most strongly with reading ability and uniquely discriminated average from below- and above-average readers in terms of word reading, reading comprehension, and spelling. On word reading, comprehension, and spelling, RAN discriminated only the below-average group from the average performers. Verbal memory, as assessed by word list recall, additionally discriminated the below-average group from the average group on spelling performance. Motor balance and speech perception did not discriminate average from above- or below-average performers. In regression analyses, phonological processing measures predicted word reading and comprehension, and both phonological processing and RAN predicted spelling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.forename: Norah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Frederickson
authors.forename: Roz
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Patni
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tuersley
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D011939:Mental Recall; D009048:Motor Skills; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013067:Speech Perception