title: Visual scanning and reading ability in normal and dyslexic children.
abstract: Very few studies have investigated the development of visual search of aligned stimuli in relation to normal reading acquisition and in developmental dyslexia. In this study we used a new computerised experimental task which requires a visuo-motor response (RT) to a target appearing unpredictably in one out of seven different spatial positions on a horizontally aligned array of 18 geometrical figures. The aims of the study were to investigate: 1) the visual scanning development in normal children from pre-school to school age; 2) whether visual scanning performance in kindergarten children could predict reading acquisition; 3) the visual scanning abilities in a group of developmental dyslexic children. The main results were: 1) a significant decrement of RTs with age and a progressive increase of the left-to-right gradient with reading experience; 2) visual scanning abilities in kindergarten proved to be a good predictor of reading acquisition; 3) dyslexics were slow scanners and did not present the left-to-right strategy typical of normal readers. The results support the hypothesis of a relationship between visual scanning and reading abilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy. giovanni.ferretti@inpe.unipi.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazzotti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brizzolara
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014796:Visual Perception