Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Advisor: Betty Ann Levy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-119) Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Psych.Ed.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Janet Swaffar. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

The ability of students to segment the speech stream into phonemic units and to analyze (make judgments as to same or different) beginning consonant phonemes was assessed at grades kindergarten through third from both high and low socioeconomic groups. Segmentation ability was assessed by the use of a test of actual words in a match-to-sample task, a test of synthetic words requiring a same-different judgment and a task which required deletion of a phoneme from a known word to form a new word. Three prerequisite abilities were also assessed: auditory acuity and understanding of the concepts "same" and "different" with regard to sounds, and "beginning" with regard to sequence of sounds.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of special training in motor ability skills on the reading ability of grade two pupils who have a specific reading disability. Thirty subjects, all of them grade two pupils at the Sir Richard McBride Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, were selected. All were classed as poor readers on the basis of the Metropolitan Reading Achievement Test. The subjects were given pre-trainlng standardized tests in Mental Ability, Reading Achievement, Visual Perception, and General Motor Capacity. They were then randomly assigned to five sub-groups for Special Training purposes. Group I was the control group. Group II received extra instruction in motor skills and reading. Group III were given special training in motor skills. Group IV received extra reading instruction, and Group V received special training in both reading and visual perception. The thirty subjects were equally distributed, six in each group. The experimental groups received approximately fifty minutes of special training every day for a period of sixty-five days. Case Studies were made of the six subjects in Group III, the Motor Ability Group. At the conclusion of the Special Training Period, all subjects were again tested in general motor capacity, visual perception, and reading ability. Initial and final test scores in motor capacity, perception, and reading were analysed by Fisher's t statistic and the differences between mean improvements of the five groups were discussed. Case Study Reports were written for each of the subjects in Group III. A review of the Case Study Reports revealed that all of the subjects in the Motor Ability Group improved in reading ability, visual perception, and motor skills. The group mean scores, before and after training, indicated that children who received special training in motor skills (Group III) improved in reading ability as measured by the Metropolitan Reading Achievement Test, but no more than children in any of the remaining groups. It appears also that special training in motor ability skills can cause an improvement in the motor ability and visual perception of children at this age level. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

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published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy