Four developmentally delayed preschoolers were taught action-object responses in receptive and expressive language modalities, using matrix-training procedures. Acquisition of a word combination rule was facilitated by the use of familiar lexical items, whereas subsequent acquisition of new lexical knowledge was enhanced by couching training in a…

At prekindergarten screening, 84 children were evaluated with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration. Two years later, teachers' ratings of the students (now in first grade) on reading performance indicated that students with poor sight-word vocabularies performed lower on the…

A cohort of 92 children was followed through sixth grade to investigate the relationship of preschool skills and first-grade phonological awareness to later reading and spelling abilities. In particular, the focus was on the changing roles of letter naming, orthographic awareness, and phonological processing in prediction of reading vocabulary,…

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised assesses standard American English receptive vocabulary in individuals, both handicapped and nonhandicapped, ages 2 to 40. This paper describes the test's administration, summation of data, standardization, reliability, and validity. (JDD)

Discusses some of the processes children use in learning words and putting them into intelligible contexts. Describes some of the difficulties children can have when trying to learn new vocabulary. Briefly reports on efforts to use interactive video technology to enable children to access new words. (TW)