Three groups of elementary school students, matched on reading ability and with similar cognitive profiles, were administered tasks assessing their inventory of reading skills. Results support a developmental lag model of reading problems of nondyslexic children. (Author/RWB)

The Posner-Snyder two-process theory of expectancy explains results of studies on the effect of sentence context on ongoing word recognition. Three studies tested the applicability of the theory to the performance of fluent adult readers. Difficult words displayed larger context effects than did easy words. (Author/RD)

Finds a significant correlation between Reaction Time (RT) and reading ability; however, the zero-order correlation between RT and word recognition ability was largely due to variance shared with phonological awareness and general cognitive ability. Concludes RT explained almost no unique variance after phonological sensitivity and general…

Outlines how contemporary reading theorists conceptualize reading fluency, discussing why it is a good indicator of reading process efficiency. Suggests ways to foster development of reading fluency. Children must acquire the automatic word and phrase processing that enables fluent reading and lets them allocate cognitive capacity to…

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)

A review of interactive models of reading combined with the assumption of compensatory processes indicates that compared to poor readers, good readers appear to have superior strategies for comprehending and remembering large units of text and are superior at context-free word recognition. (MKM)

Describes first-grade children who completed a battery of tasks that included standardized measures of word recognition and spelling, measures of phonological and orthographic processing skills, and a short indicator of exposure to print via home literacy experiences. Finds that phonological and orthographic processing skills are separable…

A new regression-based logic strategy is presented for comparing cognitive profiles of children developing reading skills at different rates. Results with 907 children support the phonological-core variable-difference model of reading disability, with the degree of aptitude-achievement discrepancy unrelated to unique cognitive trade-offs of…

Two studies investigated the use of graphic and contextual information in word recognition, and the extent to which good and poor fourth grade readers were flexible in their ability to trade off one type of information for another as situations warranted. The subjects orally read stories containing ten altered words, with a single letter…

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)

The literature on individual differences in cognitive processes that operate at the text level is reviewed. Poor readers display comprehension deficits independent of word-decoding skill, due to deficient syntactic abilities and to more general metacognitive strategies. The general conclusions from this review and from Part One (ED 150 706) are…