Haskins Publications

Number	990
Year	1995
Drawer	18
Entry Date	07/01/1998
Authors	Stone, B., and Brady, S.A.
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Publication	Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 51-78.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0990.pdf
Abstract	Although weaknesses in metaphonological skills are well-documented in poor readers, prior studies have yielded inconsistent findings as to whether less-skilled readers also have deficits in the more primary phonological processes entailed in verbal working memory and speech production tasks. The present study was designed to examine this issue by comparing less-skilled third-graders (n = 30) with younger children at the same reading level (n = 30) and with more-skilled agemates (n = 30) on a variety of tasks that require phonological processing (i.e., three “verbal memory” task [word span, span with concurrent processing, pseudoword imitation] and three “speech production” tasks [word-pair repetition, tongue twisters, rapid naming]). The results were striking: the less-skilled third-grade readers had significantly lower accuracy scores than both their agemates and the younger normal readers on the word span, pseudoword imitation, word-pair repetition, and tongue twister tasks. Measure of accuracy were more related to reading ability than were measures of speed. Performance on a pseudoword imitation task was the variable most strongly linked to reading achievement.
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