Phonological skills, visual attention span, and visual stress in developmental dyslexia.
In this study, we concurrently investigated 3 possible causes of dyslexia-a phonological deficit, visual stress, and a reduced visual attention span-in a large population of 164 dyslexic and 118 control French children, aged between 8 and 13 years old. We found that most dyslexic children showed a phonological deficit, either in terms of response accuracy (92.1% of the sample), speed (84.8%), or both (79.3%). Deficits in visual attention span, as measured by partial report ability, affected 28.1% of dyslexic participants, all of which also showed a phonological deficit. Visual stress, as measured by subjective reports of visual discomfort, affected 5.5% of dyslexic participants, not more than controls (8.5%). Although phonological variables explained a large amount of variance in literacy skills, visual variables did not explain any additional variance. Finally, children with comorbid phonological and visual deficits did not show more severe reading disability than children with a pure phonological deficit. These results (a) confirm the importance of phonological deficits in dyslexia; (b) suggest that visual attention span may play a role, but a minor one, at least in this population; (c) do not support any involvement of visual stress in dyslexia. Among the factors that may explain some differences with previously published studies, the present sample is characterized by very stringent inclusion criteria, in terms of the severity of reading disability and in terms of exclusion of comorbidities. This may exacerbate the role of phonological deficits to the detriment of other factors playing a role in reading acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, AREA di Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica di Trieste - AREA Science Park.
Amanda
0000-0001-7434-9625
A
Saksida
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Hôpital des enfants.
Stéphanie
S
Iannuzzi
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University.
Caroline
C
Bogliotti
Hôpital des enfants, CHU Purpan.
Yves
Y
Chaix
Imagerie Cérébrale et Handicaps Neurologiques, Inserm UMR 825, CHU Purpan.
Jean-François
JF
Démonet
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University.
Laure
L
Bricout
Centre de Référence sur les Troubles des Apprentissages, Hôpital Bicêtre, APHP.
Catherine
C
Billard
Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition UMR 5105 CNRS, Université Pierre Mendès France.
Marie-Ange
MA
Nguyen-Morel
Service de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, Hôpital Robert Debré, APHP.
Marie-France
MF
Le Heuzey
Centre de référence pour les Troubles des Apprentissages, Hôpital Femme-Mère-Enfant, Hospices Civils de Lyon.
Isabelle
I
Soares-Boucaud
Centre de Références des troubles d'Apprentissages, Institut du développement de l'enfant et de sa communication, Hôpital Salvator.
Florence
F
George
Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive UMR 7290, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université.
Johannes C
JC
Ziegler
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University.
Franck
F
Ramus
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D010700:Phonetics; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011594:Psychometrics; D011932:Reading; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*