Investigates the use of graphic and contextual information in word recognition and the extent to which good and poor readers are flexible in their ability to trade off one type of information for another when the situation warrants. (HOD)

Third- and fifth-graders, like adults, quickly named words preceded by either an incongruous or a normal incomplete sentence. Results (1) support the assumption that context effects on children's word recognition are caused by spreading-activation and expectancy-based-attentional processes operating simultaneously and (2) indicate that word…

A study of 51 third and 47 fourth graders using a new measure of exposure to print, the Title Recognition Test, established that orthographic processing ability can account for variance in word recognition skill after variance resulting from phonological processing is removed. The importance of print exposure is discussed. (SLD)

Reports that although the traditional domain of developmental lag models has been dyslexia, this type of model is actually more helpful as an aid to understanding the normal achievement variations found among nondyslexic children. (FL)