The Rapid Automatized Naming test (RAN) has been shown to be a strong predictor of reading ability (Bowers and Wolf, 1993), however, the nature of this relationship remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the visual scanning and sequential components of the continuous RAN format are similar to those same visual scanning processes required in reading, and whether these processes partially account for the relationship. The sample consisted of 57 undergraduate students (63.2% female). The majority of the sample was either Caucasian (33.3%) or African American (29.8%). The eye movement measures consisted of three short stories and the continuous versions of two RAN tasks (colors and letters). This study examined the percent of regressions and fixations during both types of tasks (reading text and RAN). The findings suggest that the continuous RAN measures important visual scanning and sequencing processes that are important in predicting reading ability.

No description available.

The Rapid Automatized Naming test (RAN) has been shown to be a strong predictor of reading ability (Katzir et al., 2006), however the nature of this relationship remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the underlying components of RAN, and to then determine whether these components partially account for the relationship between RAN and reading ability. The sample consisted of 100 undergraduate students. The underlying components of RAN that were evaluated included, visual search and scanning, auditory and visual sequencing, discrete naming, confrontation naming, executive functioning and phonological processing. The findings suggest that visual search and scanning, auditory sequential processing, discrete naming and executive functioning are all significant underlying components of RAN. Additionally, the findings suggest that visual scanning and auditory sequential processing partially mediate the relationship between RAN and reading fluency.

This study was an investigation of the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading in a sample of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students who use American Sign Language (ASL). Thirty DHH students, 10 to 18 years old, were given a series of assessments including measures of RAN, reading decoding, reading fluency, reading comprehension, expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, and visual-motor integration. Significant correlations were found between RAN colors and reading decoding; RAN colors and reading comprehension; and RAN colors, numbers, and letters and reading fluency. A significant difference was found between symbolic (letters, numbers) and non-symbolic (objects, colors) RAN in this sample, with better performance noted on tasks of symbolic RAN. Hierarchical regression models were created for each type of RAN. Each model as a whole was significant. The proposed model for RAN objects accounted for 26.6% of the variance in RAN performance. The model for RAN colors accounted for 54.1% of the variance in RAN performance. The proposed model for RAN numbers accounted for 53% of the variance in RAN. The model for RAN letters accounted for 32.6% of the variance in RAN. Across all models, reading fluency and vocabulary were unique and statistically significant contributors in the model predicting RAN. Visual-motor integration performance was not a unique contributor to the model.

The primary goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of different first language backgrounds on early Chinese reading development by comparing a group of children who spoke a dialect at home and learned to speak and read Mandarin as a second language as soon as they attended Mandarin immersion programs with their Mandarin-speaking monolingual counterparts. The comparison involved five variables, two of which were measures of reading outcomes, word reading accuracy and vocabulary knowledge, and the other three were measures related to processing spoken languages, including rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness. The study was carried out in two phases. Participants in Phase One consisted of 30 dialect-dominant (DD) and 30 Mandarin-monolingual (MD) children from one kindergarten. Half of them were in their second year (K2), and the other half were in their third year of kindergarten (K3). Participants in Phase Two consisted of 218 dialect-dominant children from the third-year kindergarten to the third grade in one school. The assessments in Phase One were administered from March to April in 2011, and the assessments in Phase Two were administered from May to July in 2011. The current study added to extant literature by yielding several important findings with an under-represented population in Chinese reading research. First, the strong link between morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge, which has been documented in previous studies, is now extended to the group of DD children. Second, the current study revealed that in comparison to the MD group the DD group performed significantly poorer on Mandarin morphological construction in K2, indicating an impact of language proficiency in the development of morphological awareness. This impact appeared to affect the DD children's subsequent vocabulary development. Third, the current study showed grade variability in the rapid automatized naming (RAN)-Chinese reading relation and suggested that the component of language proficiency might affect children's rapid naming speed and moderate the relation of RAN to reading outcomes. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are presented.

No description available.

Referentiell kommunikation innebär att kunna delge andra information så att de förstår, samt att själv förstå när man lyssnar och även att vara medveten om när man själv inte har förstått (Sonnenschein & Whitehurst, 1984). Genom en referentiell kommunikationsuppgift har lyssnaregenskaper inom referentiell kommunikation undersökts hos ungdomar med lindrig till måttlig utvecklingsstörning, samt en mentalt åldersmatchad kontrollgrupp. Snabb benämning (Rapid Automatized Naming) av enstaviga och flerstaviga ord har också testats, och huruvida samband mellan resultat i kommunikationsuppgiften och snabb benämning föreligger. För att mäta referentiella lyssnarförmågor har olika typer av efterfrågningar studerats, det vill säga hur individen uttrycker sig för att efterfråga mer information. Resultatet visar att kontrollgruppen producerar signifikant fler av efterfrågningstyperna begäran av utökad information och kontrollfrågor. Båda grupperna var mycket heterogena i kommunikationsuppgiften vad gäller antalet efterfrågningar hos varje individ. I målgruppen återfanns ett signifikant samband mellan efterfrågningstypen aningen-eller-frågor och långsam benämningshastighet av enstaviga ord. En klinisk implikation av resultatet i studien är att en del individer i målgruppen skulle kunna gynnas av träning i referentiell kommunikation.

Embora o papel da consciência fonológica na aprendizagem da leitura e da escrita em línguas alfabéticas já esteja bem estabelecido por uma grande quantidade de estudos, as relações entre as demais habilidades envolvidas no processamento fonológico (memória de trabalho fonológica e nomeação automatizada rápida) e o desempenho em leitura e escrita têm sido menos estudadas, havendo controvérsias sobre a contribuição específica e independente da memória de trabalho fonológica para o desempenho em leitura e escrita. Por outro lado, apesar de o desempenho em tarefas de nomeação automatizada rápida ter se mostrado relacionado às habilidades de leitura e escrita, encontram-se na literatura dúvidas sobre se essa relação estaria baseada no processamento de estímulos fonológicos ou no processamento de padrões visuais. Dessa maneira, o presente trabalho investigou a contribuição das habilidades de consciência fonológica, memória de trabalho fonológica, nomeação automatizada rápida e processamento visual para o desempenho em leitura e escrita de crianças em processo de alfabetização, analisando ainda a possível interação entre essas habilidades. Participaram desta pesquisa 50 crianças, de ambos os sexos, alunos de três classes de 3º Ano (2ª série) do Ensino Fundamental, de uma escola da rede pública de educação, localizada no interior do estado de São Paulo. Foram utilizados instrumentos padronizados para a avaliação das habilidades de leitura, escrita, consciência fonológica, memória de trabalho fonológica, nomeação automatizada rápida e processamento visual. Os dados foram analisados através de técnicas correlacionais e de análise de regressão, visando identificar a relação entre as variáveis estudadas e a contribuição das variáveis consideradas preditoras (consciência fonológica, memória de trabalho fonológica, nomeação automatizada rápida e processamento visual) sobre as habilidades de leitura e escrita da amostra estudada. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que, dentre as habilidades avaliadas, a consciência fonológica e a memória de trabalho fonológica são as que mais contribuem para o desempenho inicial em leitura e em escrita. Por outro lado, dentre as habilidades de nomeação automatizada rápida, apenas a nomeação de letras demonstrou correlação significativa com a leitura e a escrita. Por fim, não houve correlação das habilidades de leitura e escrita com o processamento visual. Resultados de uma análise fatorial exploratória sugerem ainda o agrupamento das variáveis preditoras em três fatores, relativamente independentes, sendo o primeiro formado pelas habilidades de memória fonológica e consciência fonológica, o segundo pelas habilidades de nomeação automatizada rápida e o terceiro pelo processamento visual, corroborando assim com os resultados de pesquisas que consideram a nomeação automatizada rápida como uma habilidade relativamente independente do processamento fonológico. Os resultados obtidos contribuem para a compreensão dos processos psicológicos envolvidos na aprendizagem da leitura e escrita, podendo oferecer subsídios para a elaboração de metodologias de alfabetização mais eficientes, tanto no que se refere ao âmbito do ensino, quanto à prevenção e remediação das dificuldades de aprendizagem. Suscitam também a necessidade de novas pesquisas para esclarecer melhor as relações entre os processos psicológicos envolvidos na nomeação seriada rápida e no processamento visual e as habilidades iniciais de leitura e escrita. / Although the role of phonological awareness in reading and writing learning in alphabetic languages is already well established by a lot of studies, the relationship among the other skills involved in phonological processing (phonological working memory and rapid automatized naming) and reading and writing performance have been less studied. There are controversies about the specific and independent contribution of phonological working memory for reading and writing performance. Moreover, although the performance in rapid naming tasks have been shown to be related to reading and writing skills, there are in the literature doubts about if this type of processing is mainly based on phonological stimuli processing or visual patterns processing. Thus, this study intended to investigate the contribution of phonological awareness, phonological working memory, rapid automatized naming and visual processing to the performance in reading and writing of children in the literacy process, still analyzing the possible interaction between those skills. Participated in this study 50 children of both sexes, students from three classes of 3rd Year (2nd series) of a public elementary school, located in the state of São Paulo. Standardized instruments were used for the assessment of reading, writing, phonological awareness, phonological working memory, rapid automatized naming and visual processing skills. Data were analyzed quantitatively through correlational techniques and regression analysis, to identify the relationship between the studied variables and the contribution of the variables considered predictors (phonological awareness, phonological working memory, rapid automatized naming and visual processing) on reading and writing skills of the sample. The results suggest that among the evaluated skills, phonological awareness and phonological working memory are those that contribute most to the initial performance in reading and writing. On the other hand, among the skills of rapid automatized naming, only the naming of letters showed significant correlation with reading and writing. Finally, there wasn´t correlation between reading or writing skills and visual processing. Results of an exploratory factor analysis also suggest the grouping of predictor variables on three factors, relatively independent, the first being formed by phonological working memory and phonological awareness skills, the second by rapid automatized naming skills and the third by the visual processing, supporting well the results of surveys that consider the rapid automatized naming as a relatively independent ability of phonological processing. The results contribute to the understanding of the psychological processes involved in reading and writing learning and can offer subsidies for the development of more efficient literacy methodologies, both with regard to teaching, as well the prevention and remediation of learning disabilities. They also raise the need of further research to clarify the relationship between the psychological processes involved in the rapid automatized naming and in the visual processing with regard to the initial skills of reading and writing.

Embora o papel da consciência fonológica na aprendizagem da leitura e da escrita em línguas alfabéticas já esteja bem estabelecido por uma grande quantidade de estudos, as relações entre as demais habilidades envolvidas no processamento fonológico (memória de trabalho fonológica e nomeação automatizada rápida) e o desempenho em leitura e escrita têm sido menos estudadas, havendo controvérsias sobre a contribuição específica e independente da memória de trabalho fonológica para o desempenho em leitura e escrita. Por outro lado, apesar de o desempenho em tarefas de nomeação automatizada rápida ter se mostrado relacionado às habilidades de leitura e escrita, encontram-se na literatura dúvidas sobre se essa relação estaria baseada no processamento de estímulos fonológicos ou no processamento de padrões visuais. Dessa maneira, o presente trabalho investigou a contribuição das habilidades de consciência fonológica, memória de trabalho fonológica, nomeação automatizada rápida e processamento visual para o desempenho em leitura e escrita de crianças em processo de alfabetização, analisando ainda a possível interação entre essas habilidades. Participaram desta pesquisa 50 crianças, de ambos os sexos, alunos de três classes de 3º Ano (2ª série) do Ensino Fundamental, de uma escola da rede pública de educação, localizada no interior do estado de São Paulo. Foram utilizados instrumentos padronizados para a avaliação das habilidades de leitura, escrita, consciência fonológica, memória de trabalho fonológica, nomeação automatizada rápida e processamento visual. Os dados foram analisados através de técnicas correlacionais e de análise de regressão, visando identificar a relação entre as variáveis estudadas e a contribuição das variáveis consideradas preditoras (consciência fonológica, memória de trabalho fonológica, nomeação automatizada rápida e processamento visual) sobre as habilidades de leitura e escrita da amostra estudada. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que, dentre as habilidades avaliadas, a consciência fonológica e a memória de trabalho fonológica são as que mais contribuem para o desempenho inicial em leitura e em escrita. Por outro lado, dentre as habilidades de nomeação automatizada rápida, apenas a nomeação de letras demonstrou correlação significativa com a leitura e a escrita. Por fim, não houve correlação das habilidades de leitura e escrita com o processamento visual. Resultados de uma análise fatorial exploratória sugerem ainda o agrupamento das variáveis preditoras em três fatores, relativamente independentes, sendo o primeiro formado pelas habilidades de memória fonológica e consciência fonológica, o segundo pelas habilidades de nomeação automatizada rápida e o terceiro pelo processamento visual, corroborando assim com os resultados de pesquisas que consideram a nomeação automatizada rápida como uma habilidade relativamente independente do processamento fonológico. Os resultados obtidos contribuem para a compreensão dos processos psicológicos envolvidos na aprendizagem da leitura e escrita, podendo oferecer subsídios para a elaboração de metodologias de alfabetização mais eficientes, tanto no que se refere ao âmbito do ensino, quanto à prevenção e remediação das dificuldades de aprendizagem. Suscitam também a necessidade de novas pesquisas para esclarecer melhor as relações entre os processos psicológicos envolvidos na nomeação seriada rápida e no processamento visual e as habilidades iniciais de leitura e escrita. / Although the role of phonological awareness in reading and writing learning in alphabetic languages is already well established by a lot of studies, the relationship among the other skills involved in phonological processing (phonological working memory and rapid automatized naming) and reading and writing performance have been less studied. There are controversies about the specific and independent contribution of phonological working memory for reading and writing performance. Moreover, although the performance in rapid naming tasks have been shown to be related to reading and writing skills, there are in the literature doubts about if this type of processing is mainly based on phonological stimuli processing or visual patterns processing. Thus, this study intended to investigate the contribution of phonological awareness, phonological working memory, rapid automatized naming and visual processing to the performance in reading and writing of children in the literacy process, still analyzing the possible interaction between those skills. Participated in this study 50 children of both sexes, students from three classes of 3rd Year (2nd series) of a public elementary school, located in the state of São Paulo. Standardized instruments were used for the assessment of reading, writing, phonological awareness, phonological working memory, rapid automatized naming and visual processing skills. Data were analyzed quantitatively through correlational techniques and regression analysis, to identify the relationship between the studied variables and the contribution of the variables considered predictors (phonological awareness, phonological working memory, rapid automatized naming and visual processing) on reading and writing skills of the sample. The results suggest that among the evaluated skills, phonological awareness and phonological working memory are those that contribute most to the initial performance in reading and writing. On the other hand, among the skills of rapid automatized naming, only the naming of letters showed significant correlation with reading and writing. Finally, there wasn´t correlation between reading or writing skills and visual processing. Results of an exploratory factor analysis also suggest the grouping of predictor variables on three factors, relatively independent, the first being formed by phonological working memory and phonological awareness skills, the second by rapid automatized naming skills and the third by the visual processing, supporting well the results of surveys that consider the rapid automatized naming as a relatively independent ability of phonological processing. The results contribute to the understanding of the psychological processes involved in reading and writing learning and can offer subsidies for the development of more efficient literacy methodologies, both with regard to teaching, as well the prevention and remediation of learning disabilities. They also raise the need of further research to clarify the relationship between the psychological processes involved in the rapid automatized naming and in the visual processing with regard to the initial skills of reading and writing.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Reading Disability (RD) are among the most common childhood disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and co-occur significantly more frequently than expected by chance (Dykman & Ackerman, 1991; Semrud-Clikeman et al., 1992). Similar processing deficits are seen in children with ADHD and children with RD, one of which is rapid automatized naming (RAN) (Denckla & Cutting, 1999). These continuous performance tasks require quick naming of visually represented stimuli. Uncertainty about what RAN actually measures, however, makes drawing conclusions about relations to ADHD and RD difficult (Tannock, 1998). By better understanding the cognitive processes involved in RAN, and how those processes relate to ADHD and RD symptoms, the relations among RAN, ADHD, and RD might be better understood. The current study sought to identify variables that would help explain ADHD and RD children’s difficulty with RAN. Five fundamental, neurocognitive skills were hypothesized to be related to RAN performance, ADHD, and reading disability. The effect of children’s phonological awareness, processing speed, working memory, fine-motor speed, and reaction time on their RAN performances was measured. The extent to which these same variables were related to inattention symptoms severity and word-reading ability was also assessed. Finally, the extent to which RAN mediated the effects of neurocognitive skills on inattention symptoms and word-reading ability was measured. By simultaneously measuring the hypothesized relations among variables, the processing deficits responsible for ADHD and RD children’s problems on RAN may be revealed. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze assessment data (i.e., neurocognitive, RAN, and word-reading performance scores; parent-report of inattention symptoms) of 183 children who received neuropsychological evaluations. Results indicated the following significant direct effects: phonological awareness and working memory on word-reading ability, processing speed and working memory on RAN, and RAN on word-reading ability. A possible significant mediation effect of processing speed on word-reading ability through RAN was also shown. Significant effects of study variables on inattention symptoms were not shown, which limited conclusions about RAN’s relation to ADHD. Results are of practical importance in RD assessment because the relation between RAN and word-reading ability was shown to involve processes beyond phonology. / text