| Abstract: | Three phases comprise the development of word reading skill: accuracy, automaticity, and speed. The 3rd phase is reached when components of the identification process (i.e., graphic, phonological, semantic) are unitized in memory for particular words. Attainment of this final phase was explored with 2 experiments. In Exp I with Ss from 1st-, 2nd-, and 4th-grade classes, skilled and less skilled readers identified familiar printed words, CVC nonwords, digits, and pictures. Attainment of unitized speeds to printed words was inferred if Ss identified words as rapidly as digits. This level was exhibited by skilled readers in all grades but by less skilled readers only in 4th grade. Unitized speed with CVCs was evident among 2nd- and 4th-grade skilled readers, but not among less skilled readers at any grade. In Exp II, 18 1st-grade and 19 2nd-grade poor readers practiced reading familiar words and CVCs. Practice boosted RTs to CVCs but not to words read accurately before training, and RTs to both remained slower than digit RTs, indicating that practice promotes the development of unitized speeds very slowly in less skilled readers. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
