scholarly journals The N170 as a marker of Reading Proficiency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ulrike Kagel
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Biological Marker ◽  
Stimulus Class ◽  
Specific Stimulus ◽  
Auditory Event ◽  
N170 Component ◽  
Phonological Abilities

The major aim of the thesis is to investigate a new biological marker for reading proficiency. One typical marker for dyslexia is the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the auditory event-related brain potential. In the present studies I shall explore a marker that is more reading-specific: the N170 component (also called N1). This component is more reading specific because it responds to and is modulated by visual stimuli depending on the expertise of the reader with a specific stimulus class such as words or faces. In contrast, the MMN is primarily sensitive to deviant auditory stimuli in an otherwise consistent series of auditory events. The first two studies examined whether there is a correlation between habituation of the N170 and reading speed in adult normal readers and 2nd graders. The ongoing habituation of the N170 signal represents the automatization of the reading process. In a third study rhymes were used to explore the relation between N170 laterality, phonological abilities (rhyming) and reading ability/speed.

scholarly journals The inhibitory effect of word neighborhood size when reading with central field loss is modulated by word predictability and reading proficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Sauvan ◽  
Natacha Stolowy ◽  
Carlos Aguilar ◽  
Thomas François ◽  
Núria Gala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Neighborhood Size ◽  
Central Field ◽  
Text Simplification ◽  
Word Predictability

AbstractFor normally sighted readers, word neighborhood size (i.e., the total number of words that can be formed from a single word by changing only one letter) has a facilitator effect on word recognition. When reading with central field loss (CFL) however, individual letters may not be correctly identified, leading to possible misidentifications and a reverse neighborhood size effect. Here we investigate this inhibitory effect of word neighborhood size on reading performance and whether it is modulated by word predictability and reading proficiency. Nineteen patients with binocular CFL from 32 to 89 years old (mean ± SD = 75 ± 15) read short sentences presented with the self-paced reading paradigm. Accuracy and reading time were measured for each target word read, along with its predictability, i.e., its probability of occurrence following the two preceding words in the sentence using a trigram analysis. Linear mixed effects models were then fit to estimate the individual contributions of word neighborhood size, predictability, frequency and length on accuracy and reading time, while taking patients’ reading proficiency into account. For the less proficient readers, who have given up daily reading as a consequence of their visual impairment, we found that the effect of neighborhood size was reversed compared to normally sighted readers and of higher amplitude than the effect of frequency. Furthermore, this inhibitory effect is of greater amplitude (up to 50% decrease in reading speed) when a word is not easily predictable because its chances to occur after the two preceding words in a specific sentence are rather low. Severely impaired patients with CFL often quit reading on a daily basis because this task becomes simply too exhausting. Based on our results, we envision lexical text simplification as a new alternative to promote effective rehabilitation in these patients. By increasing reading accessibility for those who struggle the most, text simplification might be used as an efficient rehabilitation tool and daily reading assistive technology, fostering overall reading ability and fluency through increased practice.

The Relationship between Online Information Seeking Anxiety and English Reading Proficiency across Gender

2015 ◽  
pp. 449-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrak Rahimi ◽  
Zahra Bayat
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Information Searching ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Online Information Seeking ◽  
The Relationship

In this chapter the relationship between Iranian EFL learners' online information seeking anxiety and reading ability is investigated. The sample included 177 high-school students of an urban area in Iran. In order to measure their reading ability, the reading section of Primary English Test (PET) was used. To assess their online information searching anxiety, Information Seeking Anxiety scale (ISAS) was used. The results of the correlational analysis showed that there is a negative relationship between ISAS (and all its components) and PET. When male and female participants were considered separately, English reading was not found to be related to anxiety among boys; while it was moderately associated with anxiety among girls. The result of regression showed that EFL reading ability is a significant predictor of online information seeking anxiety and can predict more than 7% of the variance of online information searching anxiety; however the power of reading to reduce searching anxiety was found to be much stronger (more than 18%) among females.

The Location and Effects of Visual Hemisphere-Specific Stimulation on Reading Fluency in Children With the Characteristics of Dyslexia

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobbie Jean Koen ◽  
Jacqueline Hawkins ◽  
Xi Zhu ◽  
Ben Jansen ◽  
Weihua Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Reading Disabilities ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Visual Word Form Area ◽  
Specific Stimulation ◽  
The Right

Fluency is used as an indicator of reading proficiency. Many students with reading disabilities are unable to benefit from typical interventions. This study is designed to replicate Lorusso, Facoetti, Paganoni, Pezzani, and Molteni’s (2006) work using FlashWord, a computer program that tachistoscopically presents words in the right or left visual hemi-field in English and locates through fMRI imaging the processing areas involved in fluency development. Our participants were 15 students who were ages 8 to 19 years and had reading disabilities randomly assigned to Intervention ( n = 9) and Delayed Intervention ( n = 6) groups. Functional imaging studies focused on analyzing activations in the left hemisphere (LH) superior temporal gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the LH inferior occipito-temporal/fusiform area (visual-word form area [VWFA]). Analysis of intervention data showed that 6 of the 9 Intervention group participants (67%) achieved levels of automatic processing and increased their reading rate by an average of 20 words per minute after participating in the FlashWord intervention. Analyses of fMRI group activation maps and mean activation levels in regions of interest document processing changes in VWFA activations that could be related to the increase in reading speed and confirm these locations as essential to developing fluency.

Reading with Visual Field Defects

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 11-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Trauzettel-Klosinski
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Zero Point ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Visual Field Defects ◽  
Video Tape ◽  
Field Defects

The influence of different visual field defects on the reading performance was examined with potential adaptive strategies to improve the reading process in mind. By means of an SLO, the retinal fixation locus (RFL) was determined with the use of single targets and text, and eye movements scanning the text were recorded on video tape. Additionally, eye movements were monitored by an Infrared Limbus Tracker. Visual fields were assessed by the Tübingen Manual and/or automatic perimetry. Normal subjects, and patients with central scotomata, ring scotomata, and hemianopic field defects (HFD) were examined. The main pathological reading parameters were an increase of saccade frequency and regressions per line, and a decrease of reading speed. In patients with field defects involving the visual field centre, fixation behaviour is significant for regaining reading ability. In absolute central scotoma, the lost foveal function promotes eccentric fixation. The remaining problem is insufficient resolution of the RFL, which can be compensated for by magnification of the text. In patients with insufficient size of their reading visual field, due to HFD and ring scotoma, it is crucial that they learn to use a new RFL despite intact foveolar function. Preconditions for reading have been found to be: (1) sufficient resolution of the RFL, (2) a reading visual field of a minimum extent, and (3) intact basic oculomotor function. In patients with visual field defects involving the centre, a sensory-motor adaptation process is required: the use of a new RFL as the new centre of the visual field and as the new zero point for eye-movement coordinates.

scholarly journals The Influence of Articulatory Suppression on Reading Among Chinese Children with Developmental Dyslexia: An Eye-Movement and Case-Control Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuhong Li ◽  
Weidong Li ◽  
Buyun Liu ◽  
Jinxin Zhang ◽  
Jingwen Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Core Deficit

Abstract Background: In Western countries, phonological processing deficit was regard as a core deficit in developmental dyslexia (DD). As Chinese is a logographic language, it’s still controversial whether and how the articulatory suppression influences reading ability and processing of Chinese children with DD. The study aimed to examine how the phonological loop influences reading ability and processing in Chinese children with DD.Methods: This study included 30 children with DD and 37 children without DD. Two types of articles (i.e., scenery prose and narrative story) and two conditions (under the conditions of articulatory-suppression and silent reading) were applied. An eye-link II High-Speed Eye Tracker was used to track a series of eye-movement parameters. The data was analyzed by the linear Mixed-Effects model. Results: Compared with children without DD, Children with DD had lower reading achievement (RA), frequency of saccades (FS) and frequency of fixations (FF), longer reading time (RT) and average fixation duration (AFD), slower reading speed (RS), shorter average saccade amplitude (ASA) and fixation distance (FD), more number of fixations (NF) and number of saccades (NS). There were significant interactions between participant group and articulatory suppression on RT and FD. We also observed interaction effects between article types and articulatory suppression on RA, AFD, ASA, and FS.Conclusion: Children DD exhibit abnormal phonological loop and eye movements while reading. The role of the articulatory suppression on reading varies with the presentation of DD and the article type.

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