Haskins Publications

Number	499
Year	1985
Drawer	8
Entry Date	11/19/1999
Authors	Fischer, F. W., Shankweiler, D., & Liberman, I. Y.
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Publication	Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 423-441.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0499.pdf
Abstract	Explored the possibility that adults who differ in spelling ability also differ in sensitivity to morphophonemic structure and word formational principles underlying English spelling. Subjects for two experiments were chosen from English-speaking American undergraduates screened for spellingability using the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). In Experiment I, 18 good and 20 poor spellers were given 3 spelling tasks, including the WRAT--Spelling subtest. Analysis of misspellings showed that poor spellers were less able than good spellers to exploit regularities at the surface phonetic level and to access the underlying morphophonemic structure of words. In Experiment II, 15 good and 15 poor spellers (including 19 Subjects from Experiment I), grouped for ability by the Experiment I spelling tasks, were tested with pseudowords and were administered tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), WRAT--Reading Recognition subtest, and the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test and Test of Standard Written English. Experiment II confirmed that spelling competence involves apprehension of generalizations that can be applied to new instances.
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