The nature of preschool phonological processing abilities and their relations to vocabulary, general cognitive abilities, and print knowledge.

The development of reading-related phonological processing abilities represents an important developmental milestone in the process of learning to read. In this cross-sectional study, confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the structure of phonological processing abilities in 129 younger preschoolers (M = 40.88 months, SD = 4.65) and 304 older preschoolers (M = 56.49 months, SD = 5.31). A 2-factor model in which Phonological Awareness and Phonological Memory were represented by 1 factor and Lexical Access was represented by a 2nd factor provided the best fit for both samples and was largely invariant across samples. Measures of vocabulary, cognitive abilities, and print knowledge were significantly correlated with both factors, but Phonological Awareness/Memory had unique relations with word reading. Despite significant development of phonological processing abilities across the preschool years and into kindergarten, these results show that the structure of these skills remains invariant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of basic reading skills among young children with diverse linguistic backgrounds.

This study was conducted to assess the relative predictive validity of phonological processing, listening comprehension, general cognitive ability, and visual-motor coordination against early reading skills within a sample of children from diverse linguistic backgrounds. 65 children were tested in kindergarten with measures from each of the aforementioned areas, and in Grade 1 with measures of letter and word recognition. Among all predictor variables, phonological processing was the only significant predictor of Grade 1 reading. Language(s) spoken in the home added to the prediction of letter recognition. Results suggest that phonological processing may contribute to the acquisition of basic reading skills for children with varied language experiences in the same way as it does for monolingual children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal fluency deficits in geriatric and nongeriatric chronic schizophrenic patients

This study examined age-related differences and correlates of deficits on phonological and category fluency tasks performed by schizophrenic patients. Equal numbers (n = 41) of geriatric (age > 64) and nongeriatric chronically hospitalized schizophrenic patients were examined with tests of phonological and category fluency, verbal learning and delayed recall, confrontation naming, and reading, as well as overall estimates of cognitive impairment. Both types of fluency tests were performed very poorly by both groups. Age-related differences were found to be statistically significant. In both groups, category fluency impairments were correlated with deficits in naming, while phonological fluency deficits were best predicted by memory impairments. These data suggest that category fluency impairments are part of a general profile of impaired semantic functioning, whereas phonological fluency deficits may be induced by alterations in information processing capacity.     

Development of reading-related phonological processing abilities: New evidence of bidirectional causality from a latent variable longitudinal study.

Results from a longitudinal correlational study of 244 children from kindergarten through 2nd grade indicate that young children's phonological processing abilities are well-described by 5 correlated latent abilities: phonological analysis, phonological synthesis, phonological coding in working memory, isolated naming, and serial naming. These abilities are characterized by different developmental rates and remarkably stable individual differences. Decoding did not exert a causal influence on subsequent phonological processing abilities, but letter-name knowledge did. Causal relations between phonological processing abilities and reading-related knowledge are bidirectional: Phonological processing abilities exert strong causal influences on word decoding; letter-name knowledge exerts a more modest causal influence on subsequent phonological processing abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age changes in processing speed as a leading indicator of cognitive aging.

Bivariate dual change score models were applied to longitudinal data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging to compare the dynamic predictions of 2-component theories of intelligence and the processing speed theory of cognitive aging. Data from up to 5 measurement occasions covering a 16-year period were available from 806 participants ranging in age from 50 to 88 years at the first measurement wave. Factors were generated to tap 4 general cognitive domains: verbal ability, spatial ability, memory, and processing speed. Model fitting indicated no dynamic relationship between verbal and spatial factors, providing no support for the hypothesis that age changes in fluid abilities drive age changes in crystallized abilities. The results suggest that, as predicted by the processing speed theory of cognitive aging, processing speed is a leading indicator of age changes in memory and spatial ability, but not verbal ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changing relations between phonological processing abilities and word-level reading as children develop from beginning to skilled readers: A 5-year longitudinal study.

Relations between phonological processing abilities and word-level reading skills were examined in a longitudinal correlational study of 216 children. Phonological processing abilities, word-level reading skills, and vocabulary were assessed annually from kindergarten through 4th grade, as the children developed from beginning to skilled readers. Individual differences in phonological awareness were related to subsequent individual differences in word-level reading for every time period examined. Individual differences in serial naming and vocabulary were related to subsequent individual differences in word-level reading initially, but these relations faded with development. Individual differences in letter-name knowledge were related to subsequent individual differences in phonological awareness and serial naming, but there were no relations between individual differences in word level reading and any subsequent phonological processing ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes as predictors of word recognition and reading comprehension in learning-disabled and skilled readers: Revisiting the specificity hypothesis.

Examines how cognitive processes interrelate as well as predict learning-disabled (LD) readers' word recognition and reading comprehension performance. Correlations between phonological, orthographic, semantic, metacognitive, and working memory measures with reading performance were examined in LD and skilled readers (aged 8–12 yrs). LD Ss were deficient on all cognitive processes compared with skilled Ss, but these differences do not reflect IQ scores. Reading ability group differences emerged on a component composed primarily of working memory measures (referred to as "g") as well as unique components, suggesting that these differences emerge on both general and specific (modular) processes. G best predicts reading comprehension for both groups, and phonological awareness best predicts skilled Ss' pseudoword reading, whereas g best predicts LD Ss' pseudoword performance. Overall, LD Ss' information processing difficulties were described within a general working memory model that views such children as having difficulty accessing and coordinating both general and specific processes. Results suggest that the cognitive processes that contribute to reading deficits are best understood in the context of their combination with other operations rather than in isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clues to the cognitive organization of reading and writing from developmental hyperlexia.

Controversies regarding the organization of the cognitive systems used for processing written language were investigated in a case study of a mentally retarded hyperlexic child. Despite severe impairments in semantic processing, this child demonstrated intact phonological and orthographic processing. Detailed assessments of his nonword reading abilities provided support for the hypothesis that phonological processing of written words was accomplished by using lexical representations instead of applying nonlexical grapheme-phoneme transcoding rules. Longitudinal investigation of the hyperlexic child's development of writing supports the notion that reading and spelling rely on common mental representations rather than separate input and output mental lexicons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the specificity of face cognition compared with general cognitive functioning across adult age.

Face cognition is considered a specific human ability, clearly differentiable from general cognitive functioning. Its specificity is primarily supported by cognitive-experimental and neuroimaging research, but recently also from an individual differences perspective. However, no comprehensive behavioral data are available, which would allow estimating lifespan changes of the covariance structure of face-cognition abilities and general cognitive functioning as well as age-differences in face cognition after accounting for interindividual variability in general cognition. The present study aimed to fill this gap. In an age-heterogeneous (18–82 years) sample of 448 adults, we found no factorial dedifferentiation between face cognition and general cognition. Age-related differences in face memory were still salient after taking into account changes in general cognitive functioning. Face cognition thus remains a specific human ability compared with general cognition, even until old age. We discuss implications for models of cognitive aging and suggest that it is necessary to include more explicitly special social abilities in those models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information processing and human abilities.

An alternative model of cognitive abilities has been proposed by J. P. Das et al (1975). This model states that information is integrated in the brain in 2 ways, through simultaneous and successive processing. The present study, using 104 4th grade boys, compared this information-processing model of cognitive abilities with a traditional primary mental abilities model. A battery of tests was administered, including Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, Memory-for-Designs Test, digit span, figure copying, spatial relations, and serial recall. It was found that simultaneous processing was primarily related to spatial ability. It was also related, to a lesser extent, to both memory and inductive-reasoning abilities. Both simultaneous and successive processing were related to memory ability. No evidence was found to suggest that simultaneous and successive processing could be equated with, respectively, reasoning and memory, or, more generally, Level II and Level I abilities. It is suggested that Level II ability may be a conglomeration of reasoning, spatial ability, and some aspects of simultaneous processing. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing print exposure and orthographic processing skill in children: A quick measure of reading experience.

In a study of 3rd- and 4th-grade children it was established that orthographic processing ability can account for variance in word recognition skill after the variance due to phonological processing has been partialed out. This independent orthographic variance was related to performance on a new measure of individual differences in exposure to print, the Title Recognition Test, that has a very brief administration time. Additionally, some of the orthographic processing variance linked to word recognition ability was not shared with either phonological processing measures or with print exposure. The results of the study were supportive of the idea that there are individual differences in word recognition ability caused by variation in orthographic processing abilities that are in part determined by print exposure differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tactile measures in the structure of intelligence.

This study investigated the relationship of tactile abilities within the framework of a hierarchical structure of mental abilities. Data were analysed from 229 participants who were administered tactile measures from the Dean-Woodcock Sensory Motor Battery along with a battery of conormed cognitive measures representative of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence. Multiple measures of tactile performance were used including Palm Writing and Object Identification, and each measure included a lateralized measure (i.e., right/left). Factor analytic results suggest tactile measures have a significant relationship with measures of cognitive ability. In this study, tactile measures involving object identification were more related to cognitive measures of visual processing-speed and overall processing speed; whereas, tactile measures involving the recognition of numbers written on the palm of the hand produced high loadings on a separate factor. Results from this study suggest different tactile measures may differentially load on cognitive factors depending on the common processing demands of the tactile and cognitive measures. Suggestions for differentiating common processing demands between tactile and cognitive measures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological Processing Skills and Early Reading Abilities in Hong Kong Chinese Kindergarteners Learning to Read English as a Second Language.

The present 9-month longitudinal study investigated relations between Chinese native language phonological processing skills and early Chinese and English reading abilities among 227 kindergarteners in Hong Kong. Phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and short-term verbal memory differed in their relations to concurrent and subsequent Chinese and English word recognition. The significant bidirectional relations between phonological awareness and Chinese reading ability remained even after accounting for the variance due to age, vocabulary, and visual skills performance. When all predictors were considered simultaneously, only phonological awareness remained a significant predictor of Chinese and English reading abilities both concurrently and longitudinally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological awareness and reading: A chicken and egg problem?

Investigated the causal relationship between metaphonological skills (sound blending and segmentation) and reading/spelling in 2 experiments. In Exp I, data on 46 dyslexic and 44 control Ss in Grades 1–6 were drawn from a longitudinal study in Sweden of 723 Ss so that a number of causal models could be tested by LISREL. Results show that early spelling ability is primarily dependent on metaphonological abilities and only indirectly affected by linguistic and cognitive development. The causal model for reading obtaining empirical support was similar with the exception that it also included a direct causal path from cognitive development to reading. In Exp II, 38 1st graders were assigned to metaphonological training for 8 sessions or to general language activities (control). Ss were pre- and posttested on reading, spelling, sound blending, and segmentation. Results show that training had significant effects on metaphonological skills. Among Ss with the lowest metaphonological pretest performance, specific metaphonological training improved spelling performance more than did general language activities. Findings show that metaphonological abilities have a causal effect on reading and spelling, but no support was found for the reverse causal influence. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of phonological processing and inattentive behavior on reading acquisition.

This article reports the findings from a longitudinal study investigating the influence of phonological processing and inattentive behavior on reading acquisition. Data from individually administered measures of phonological processing and reading, as well as teacher ratings of children's behavior, were collected from a cohort of 132 children at 12-month intervals, from kindergarten to 2nd grade. Results from multiple linear regression analyses employing latent constructs of phonological abilities and inattentive behavior provided support for the hypothesized model, with kindergarten measures of inattentiveness and phonological abilities predicting subsequent reading performance. An analysis of reciprocal relationships among these constructs revealed evidence that inattentiveness also interfered with the acquisition of phonological analysis skills. Implications for reading instruction and reading interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are processing speed tasks biomarkers of cognitive aging?

We examined the association between 5 processing speed measures and general cognitive ability in a large (>900) sample of relatively healthy men and women at age 70. The processing speed tests were the Wechsler Digit Symbol-Coding and Symbol Search, simple reaction time, 4-choice reaction time, and inspection time. To inquire whether the processing speed tasks might be biomarkers of cognitive aging, we examined the attenuations in their associations with general cognitive ability after adjusting for cognitive ability measured almost 60 years earlier. With the exception of inspection time, the attenuations were substantial. Inspection time was the only processing speed measure—all of which were measured at age 70—whose correlation with cognitive ability at age 70 was significantly greater than the correlation with cognitive ability at age 11. In old age, individual differences in most commonly used measures of processing speed are largely dependent on childhood cognitive ability. For all processing speed tasks, a little variance is left that appears to be related to aging differences. Inspection time, the marker that was least dependent on childhood intelligence, should be considered further as one biomarker of cognitive aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-sectional and incremental changes in working memory and mathematical problem solving.

Cross-sectional and incremental age effects on cognitive processes that underlie individual differences in components of working memory (WM; phonological loop, visual-spatial sketchpad, executive processing) and mathematical problem-solving accuracy were examined in elementary schoolchildren. A battery of tests was administered that assessed problem solving, achievement, memory, and cognitive processing (inhibition, speed, phonological coding) in children in Grades 1, 2, and 3 (Wave 1) and 1 year later (Wave 2). The results showed that (a) 31% of the explainable within-person changes across testing waves and 42% of the age-related differences in word problem-solving accuracy were related to executive processing and (b) executive processing and reading performance in Year 1 were the only variables that contributed unique variance to Year 2 problem-solving performance. The results support the notion that growth in the executive system is an important predictor of children's problem solving abilities beyond the contribution of reading and calculation skills and that growth in executive processing can operate independently of individual differences in phonological processing, inhibition, and processing speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substantial genetic influence on cognitive abilities in twins 80 or more years old

General and specific cognitive abilities were studied in intact Swedish same-sex twin pairs 80 or more years old for whom neither twin had major cognitive, sensory, or motor impairment. Resemblance for 110 identical twin pairs significantly exceeded resemblance for 130 fraternal same-sex twin pairs for all abilities. Maximum-likelihood model-fitting estimates of heritability were 62 percent for general cognitive ability, 55 percent for verbal ability, 32 percent for spatial ability, 62 percent for speed of processing, and 52 percent for memory. There was also evidence for the significant influence of idiosyncratic experience as the environmental component that most determines individual differences in cognitive abilities late in life.     

Reading skill: Some adult comparisons.

Three groups of college readers were compared on several information-processing and language comprehension tasks that tap the cognitive components of reading. The groups were skilled readers with high verbal and nonverbal abilities, low-skilled readers with a disparity between verbal and nonverbal abilities, and low-skilled readers who were low in both verbal and nonverbal ability. Results confirm the importance of word processing and general language comprehension in distinguishing skilled from less skilled readers. Results also support the view that reading ability is best described as a continuous function and provide evidence of the reemergence of lower level processing skills in adults as a function of text difficulty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)