The Reading Acceleration Program (RAP), which uses adaptively increasing text erasure rates to enforce reading rate improvements, has been positively evaluated in various languages, reader and age groups. The current study compared the established incremental increase of text erasure rate with a training using fixed erasure rates in two groups of…

A reading acceleration program known to improve reading fluency in Hebrew-speaking adults was tested for its effect on children. Eighty-nine Hebrew- and English-speaking children with reading difficulties were divided into a waiting list group and two training groups (Hebrew and English) and underwent 4 weeks of reading acceleration training.…

This study investigated the development of working memory ability (measured by tasks assessing all four working memory components) from the end of kindergarten to the end of first grade--the first year reading is taught in school--and the relationship between working memory abilities in kindergarten and first grade and reading skills in first…

Speed of processing (SOP) is a crucial factor in fluent reading and is measured using reading rate. This measure is commonly used to examine correct reading patterns, yet in the present study it is employed to determine whether differences in SOP exist for correct and incorrect reading. One of the characteristics of dyslexia is slow and inaccurate…

Little is known about the relationship of reading speed and early visual processes in normal readers. Here we examined the association of the early P1, N170 and late N1 component in visual event-related potentials (ERPs) with silent reading speed and a number of additional cognitive skills in a sample of 52 adult German readers utilizing a Lexical…

Fourth graders whose silent word reading and/or sentence reading rate was, on average, two-thirds standard deviation below their oral reading of real and pseudowords and reading comprehension accuracy were randomly assigned to treatment ("n" = 7) or wait-listed ("n" = 7) control groups. Following nine sessions combining…

Investigates whether asynchrony of speed of processing between visual-orthographic and auditory-phonological modalities can account for word recognition deficits among dyslexic readers. Indicates that dyslexic readers were slower than control readers in most of the experimental tasks. Proposes a theory suggesting that asynchrony between the…

Results of a study with 52 dyslexic children and 52 normal readers show that reading acceleration through computer-controlled reading rates improves reading performance in both groups, but auditory masking by playing a song is beneficial only to the dyslexic children. Implications are discussed in terms of phonological processing. (SLD)

The hypothesis that gains in reading performance occurring among dyslexic children during individually paced reading are partially attributable to changes in short-term memory processing was tested with 23 elementary school students. Findings provide support for a causal role for short-term memory functioning in text processing. (SLD)

Examines the relevance of decoding, comprehension, and reading rate as used by teachers for evaluation of their students' reading competence. Finds that teachers claim to rely only on decoding and comprehension in assessing reading competence, but that in practice teachers rely quite heavily on reading rate as a diagnostic tool. (RS)

Four experiments were conducted to determine the effects on decoding mistakes and comprehension of text passages at fastest and slowest reading rates. Subjects included 181 Israeli first graders and 60 American first graders. Subjects reading at their normal maximum speed averaged fewer errors and higher comprehension. (Author/LMO)

Four experiments with 23 second graders in Haifa (Israel) tested the hypothesis that comprehension gains in fast-paced reading are attributable primarily to changes in short-term memory (STM) functioning. Results confirm the hypothesis, providing support for a causal role of STM functioning in text processing. (SLD)

The authors examined the differences in performance between 30 dyslexic readers in 4th grade, 30 dyslexic readers attending university, and age-matched normal readers for both groups on a lexical decision task to evaluate the underlying factors of dyslexia that persist into adulthood. In both age groups, the dyslexic readers were significantly…