The abc of the b and c in Spanish: inconsistent and context dependent letter errors and the development of orthographic knowledge in primary school children

[EN] This study presents the results of a cross-sectional reading and spelling assessment conducted among 118 Spanish children in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. The first aim was to explore whether children ' s use of orthographic knowledge was modulated by lexical variables-word frequency and orthographic neighborhood-or sublexical variables-context-dependent, inconsistent or neutral letters- as well as the developmental pathway of such knowledge in both tasks. The second aim was to provide insight into the type of errors committed by children in order to detect the words and structures that convey most difficulties. Data showed that children rely on sublexical processes more than on lexical ones in reading and writing. Persistent errors in context-dependent and inconsistent letters were evident even in 5th grade, and writing involved greater difficulty in all grades. The presence of other type of errors such as substitutions, omissions or lexicalizations was negligible. Finally, an item analysis revealed that errors were located in low-frequency syllables, particularly in the first position. Data point to specific and persistent difficulties in context-dependent and inconsistent letters that may hinder the consolidation of accurate orthographic word representations in Spanish.The authors acknowledge the invaluable help of all the children and families that willingly have taken part on this study. We confirm that the study has been conducted under the guidelines of the ethical committee of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, project approval reference M10_2017_158, and has been partially supported by Grant Number PSI2017-86210-P

Hacia un modelo multidimensional del trastorno específico del lenguaje y la dislexia: déficits compartidos y específicos

Este artículo revisa la naturaleza y relaciones entre procesos implicados en el trastorno específico del lenguaje (TEL) y de la lectura (dislexia) en base a los criterios de clasificación del DSM-V. El TEL implica dificultades en la percepción y discriminación de los sonidos del habla, en la adquisición de vocabulario, así como en la comprensión y producción del lenguaje y de reglas gramaticales. La dislexia se incluye dentro de los trastornos de aprendizaje, y se caracteriza por una dificultad en la adquisición de las asociaciones entre letras y sus sonidos correspondientes y la fluidez o automatización lectora. Ambos trastornos se clasifican en categorías independientes y su posible interdependencia no queda clara. Recientes investigaciones han demostrado la presencia en ambos trastornos de un déficit de naturaleza fonológica que puede definirse en torno a dos dimensiones distintas aunque interrelacionadas: la habilidad para crear representaciones fonológicas y la habilidad para procesarlas y acceder a ellas. También se ha observado que ambos trastornos comparten dificultades atencionales, en la memoria de trabajo y en la velocidad de procesamiento, lo que explicaría la alta tasa de comorbilidad entre trastornos de lenguaje, lectura y atención. Estos hallazgos subrayan la naturaleza multidimensional de los trastornos y su ubicación en un continuum, suponiendo un reto para la perspectiva categórica de los actuales métodos de clasificación. Las nuevas investigaciones se orientan hacia el descubrimiento de características comunes y específicas de los trastornos. Éstas permitirán definir marcadores de riesgo tempranos, con claras implicaciones para la evaluación y tratamiento

Does consonant–vowel skeletal structure play a role early in lexical processing? Evidence from masked priming

Published online: 02 November 2017Is the specific consonant–vowel (CV) letter combination of a word a basic source of information for lexical access in the early stages of processing? We designed two masked priming lexical decision experiments to respond to this question by directly examining the role of CV skeletal structure in written-word recognition. To that aim, each target word was preceded by a one-letter different nonword prime that kept the same CV skeletal structure or not. We also included an identity prime as a control. Results showed faster word identification times in the CV congruent condition than in the CV incongruent condition when a consonant was replaced from the target (paesaje–PAISAJE < parsaje–PAISAJE), but not when it was a vowel (alusno–ALUMNO = alueno–ALUMNO). This dissociation poses problems for those accounts based on an early activation of the CV skeletal structure during lexical processing. Instead, this pattern of data favors the view that it is the word's consonant skeleton rather than the CV skeletal structure that is the key element in the early phases of word processing. We discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of these findings.The research reported in this article was partially supported by Grants PSI2014-53444-P and BES-2015-07414 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

Hacia un modelo multidimensional del trastorno específico del lenguaje y la dislexia: déficits compartidos y específicos

Este artículo revisa la naturaleza y relaciones entre procesos implicados en el trastorno específico del lenguaje (TEL) y de la lectura (dislexia) en base a los criterios de clasificación del DSM-V. El TEL implica dificultades en la percepción y discriminación de los sonidos del habla, en la adquisición de vocabulario, así como en la comprensión y producción del lenguaje y de reglas gramaticales. La dislexia se incluye dentro de los trastornos de aprendizaje, y se caracteriza por una dificultad en la adquisición de las asociaciones entre letras y sus sonidos correspondientes y la fluidez o automatización lectora. Ambos trastornos se clasifican en categorías independientes y su posible interdependencia no queda clara. Recientes investigaciones han demostrado la presencia en ambos trastornos de un déficit de naturaleza fonológica que puede definirse en torno a dos dimensiones distintas aunque interrelacionadas: la habilidad para crear representaciones fonológicas y la habilidad para procesarlas y acceder a ellas. También se ha observado que ambos trastornos comparten dificultades atencionales, en la memoria de trabajo y en la velocidad de procesamiento, lo que explicaría la alta tasa de comorbilidad entre trastornos de lenguaje, lectura y atención. Estos hallazgos subrayan la naturaleza multidimensional de los trastornos y su ubicación en un continuum, suponiendo un reto para la perspectiva categórica de los actuales métodos de clasificación. Las nuevas investigaciones se orientan hacia el descubrimiento de características comunes y específicas de los trastornos. Éstas permitirán definir marcadores de riesgo tempranos, con claras implicaciones para la evaluación y tratamiento

Does consonant–vowel skeletal structure play a role early in lexical processing? Evidence from masked priming

Published online: 02 November 2017Is the specific consonant–vowel (CV) letter combination of a word a basic source of information for lexical access in the early stages of processing? We designed two masked priming lexical decision experiments to respond to this question by directly examining the role of CV skeletal structure in written-word recognition. To that aim, each target word was preceded by a one-letter different nonword prime that kept the same CV skeletal structure or not. We also included an identity prime as a control. Results showed faster word identification times in the CV congruent condition than in the CV incongruent condition when a consonant was replaced from the target (paesaje–PAISAJE < parsaje–PAISAJE), but not when it was a vowel (alusno–ALUMNO = alueno–ALUMNO). This dissociation poses problems for those accounts based on an early activation of the CV skeletal structure during lexical processing. Instead, this pattern of data favors the view that it is the word's consonant skeleton rather than the CV skeletal structure that is the key element in the early phases of word processing. We discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of these findings.The research reported in this article was partially supported by Grants PSI2014-53444-P and BES-2015-07414 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

Does the visual attention span play a role in the morphological processing of orthographic stimuli?

Article first published online: October 22, 2018We investigated whether the link between visual attention (VA) span and reading is modulated by the presence of morphemes. Second and fourth grade children, with Basque as their first language, named morphologically complex and simple words and pseudowords, and performed a task measuring VA span. The influence of VA span skills on reading was modulated by the presence of morphemes in naming speed measures. In addition, fourth grade children with a larger VA span showed larger lexicality effects (pseudoword-word reading times) only for morphologically simple stimuli. Results are interpreted as support for the notion that both transparency and morphological complexity are important factors modulating the impact of VA span skills on reading.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Basque Government (PRE_2015_2_0049 to A. A.), the European Research Council (ERC-2011-ADG-295362 to M.C.), and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PSI20153653383 P to M.L., PSI20153673533R to M. C, and SEV-2015-490 awarded to the BCBL through the “Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres/ Units of Excellence in R&D”)