To learn to read, the brain must repurpose neural systems for oral language and visual processing to mediate written language. We begin with a description of computational models for how alphabetic written language is processed. Next, we explain the roles of a dorsal sublexical system in the brain that relates print and speech, a ventral lexical…

Issues related to research on children's eye movements during reading are discussed. Specifically, the following topics are addressed: (1) basic methodological issues, (2) prior research findings on children's reading, (3) research that is missing in the literature regarding children's eye movements during reading, (4) applied…

The Spanish writing system has consistent grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences (GPC), rendering it more transparent than English. We compared first-language (L1) orthographic transparency on how monolingual English- and Spanish-readers learned a novel writing system with a 1:1 (LT) and a 1:2 (LO) GPC. Our dependent variables were learning time,…

Self-report is a time- and cost-efficient screening measure that has the potential to be useful as a stand-alone means of recruiting adults for participation in reading research. We report on a sample of university students (N=46) recruited using the Adult Reading History Questionnaire-Revised, half of whom reported early difficulty with reading…

Uses an error detection paradigm to examine the use of different standards of evaluation in younger and older adults who are skilled or less skilled at evaluating their understanding. Finds that skilled readers more often detect falsehoods and inconsistencies than nonsense words, whereas less skilled readers more often detect nonsense words and…

This research review looks at whether learning to read is different for children and adults and the emphases of top-down, bottom-up, and connectionist views of skilled reading. Concludes that phonological awareness is an important part of skilled reading. (SK)

A study examined the relationship among temporal processing, phonological processing, and reading skill using a multivariate approach which included measures of phonological processing and a variety of timing tasks that have been implicated in timing theories. Subjects were 30 adults classified as disabled readers based on their performance on the…

Outlines the concept of working memory, with particular reference to a hypothetical subcomponent, the articulatory loop. Discusses the role of the loop in fluent adult reading, then examines the reading performance of adults with deficits in auditory verbal memory, showing that a capacity to articulate is not necessary for the effective…

Indicates that taking notes has no long-term effect on retention of information, but that notes are useful as a source of information for review. (AEA)

Investigates the influence of word meaning on lexical processing in children and adults. Examines developmental trends in lexical decisions for abstract and concrete words. Concludes that word meaning influences lexical processing in children but that there is a developmental shift in the kinds of semantic characteristics that are available for…

Critiques an article by Richard F. West, Keith E. Stanovich, and H. R. Mitchell entitled "Reading in the Real World and Its Correlates," published in an earlier issue of this journal. Questions that article's outdated concepts of mind and mental processes and its inappropriate use of statistics. (HB)

Responds to Denny Taylor's critique in the same issue of an article by Richard F. West, Keith E. Stanovich, and H. R. Mitchell entitled "Reading in the Real World and Its Correlates," published in an earlier issue of "Reading Research Quarterly." (HB)

Compares subgroups of Finnish dyslexic adults displaying, relative to each other, a distinctive combination of accuracy and speed of oral text reading in phonological and orthographic processing, verbal short-term memory and reading habits. Indicates that advanced orthographic processing skills might help a number of the dyslexic readers to…

A study was conducted to examine the reading levels of United States Air Force civilian employees according to occupational groupings and grade structure. Approximately 1,050 Air Force civilian subjects were tested on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test or the California Reading Test. Subjects were selected from eight Air Force bases representing the…

The eye movements of two college graduates were monitored in a study of flexible reading, which is defined as the ability to adjust one's rate and approach to reading according to the purpose of reading, the difficulty of the material, and one's knowledge of the subject matter. The subjects were told to read an excerpt from a tenth grade biology…