title: Training Pseudoword Reading in Acquired Dyslexia: A Phonological Complexity Approach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Individuals with acquired phonological dyslexia experience difficulty associating written letters with corresponding sounds, especially in pseudowords. Previous studies have shown that reading can be improved in these individuals by training letter-sound correspondence, practicing phonological skills, or using combined approaches. However, generalization to untrained items is typically limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether principles of phonological complexity can be applied to training letter-sound correspondence reading in acquired phonological dyslexia to improve generalization to untrained words. Based on previous work in other linguistic domains, we hypothesized that training phonologically "more complex" material (i.e., consonant clusters with small sonority differences) would result in generalization to phonologically "less complex" material (i.e., consonant clusters with larger sonority differences), but this generalization pattern would not be demonstrated when training the "less complex" material.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a single-participant, multiple baseline design across participants and behaviors to examine phonological complexity as a training variable in five individuals. Based on participants' error data from a previous experiment, a "more complex" onset and a "less complex" onset were selected for training for each participant. Training order assignment was pseudo-randomized and counterbalanced across participants. Three participants were trained in the "more complex" condition and two in the "less complex" condition while tracking oral reading accuracy of both onsets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As predicted, participants trained in the "more complex" condition demonstrated improved pseudoword reading of the trained cluster and generalization to pseudowords with the untrained, "simple" onset, but not vice versa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest phonological complexity can be used to improve generalization to untrained phonologically related words in acquired phonological dyslexia. These findings also provide preliminary support for using phonological complexity theory as a tool for designing more effective and efficient reading treatments for acquired dyslexia.
authors.affiliation: Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
authors.forename: Ellyn A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL ; Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
authors.forename: Cynthia K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Thompson
keywords: acquired dyslexia; complexity; phonology; pseudowords; sonority