scholarly journals Developmental Dyslexia, Reading Acquisition, and Statistical Learning: A Sceptic’s Guide

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1143
Author(s):  
Xenia Schmalz ◽  
Barbara Treccani ◽  
Claudio Mulatti
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Underlying Processes ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Many theories have been put forward that propose that developmental dyslexia is caused by low-level neural, cognitive, or perceptual deficits. For example, statistical learning is a cognitive mechanism that allows the learner to detect a probabilistic pattern in a stream of stimuli and to generalise the knowledge of this pattern to similar stimuli. The link between statistical learning and reading ability is indirect, with intermediate skills, such as knowledge of frequently co-occurring letters, likely being causally dependent on statistical learning skills and, in turn, causing individual variation in reading ability. We discuss theoretical issues regarding what a link between statistical learning and reading ability actually means and review the evidence for such a deficit. We then describe and simulate the “noisy chain hypothesis”, where each intermediary link between a proposed cause and the end-state of reading ability reduces the correlation coefficient between the low-level deficit and the end-state outcome of reading. We draw the following conclusions: (1) Empirically, there is evidence for a correlation between statistical learning ability and reading ability, but there is no evidence to suggest that this relationship is causal, (2) theoretically, focussing on a complete causal chain between a distal cause and developmental dyslexia, rather than the two endpoints of the distal cause and reading ability only, is necessary for understanding the underlying processes, (3) statistically, the indirect nature of the link between statistical learning and reading ability means that the magnitude of the correlation is diluted by other influencing variables, yielding most studies to date underpowered, and (4) practically, it is unclear what can be gained from invoking the concept of statistical learning in teaching children to read.

scholarly journals Developmental dyslexia, reading acquisition, and statistical learning: A skeptic’s guide

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xenia Schmalz ◽  
Barbara Treccani ◽  
Claudio Mulatti
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Underlying Processes ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Many theories have been put forward that propose that developmental dyslexia is caused by low-level neural, cognitive or perceptual deficits. For example, statistical learning is a cognitive mechanism which allows the learner to detect a probabilistic pattern in a stream of stimuli, and to generalise the knowledge of this pattern to similar stimuli. The link between statistical learning and reading ability is indirect, with intermediate skills, such as knowledge of frequently co-occurring letters, likely being causally dependent on statistical learning skills and, in turn, causing individual variation in reading ability. We discuss theoretical issues regarding what a link between statistical learning and reading ability actually means, and review the evidence for such a deficit. We then describe and simulate the “Noisy Chain Hypothesis”, where each intermediary link between a proposed cause and the end-state of reading ability reduces the correlation coefficient between the low-level deficit and the end-state outcome of reading. We draw the following conclusions: (1) Empirically, there is evidence for a correlation between statistical learning ability and reading ability, but there is no evidence to suggest that this relationship is causal, (2) theoretically, focusing on a complete causal chain between a distal cause and developmental dyslexia, rather than the two end points of the distal cause and reading ability only, is necessary for understanding the underlying processes, (3) statistically, the indirect nature of the link between statistical learning and reading ability means that the magnitude of the correlation is diluted by other influencing variables, yielding most studies to date underpowered, and (4) practically, it is unclear what can be gained from invoking the concept of statistical learning in teaching children to read.

scholarly journals Is Statistical Learning Ability Related to Reading Ability, and If So, Why?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xenia Schmalz ◽  
Kristina Moll ◽  
Claudio Mulatti ◽  
Gerd Schulte-Körne
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Reading Acquisition ◽  
Bayes Factors ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Reading Tests ◽  
Causal Mechanisms ◽  
Potential Mediator

Previous studies found a relationship between performance on statistical learning (SL) tasks and reading ability and developmental dyslexia. Thus, it has been suggested that the ability to implicitly learn patterns may be important for reading acquisition. Causal mechanisms behind this relationship are unclear: Although orthographic sensitivity to letter bigrams may emerge through SL and facilitate reading, there is no empirical support for this link. We test 84 adults on two SL tasks, reading tests, and a bigram sensitivity task. We test for correlations using Bayes factors. This serves to test the prediction that SL and reading ability are correlated and to explore sensitivity to bigram legality as a potential mediator. We find no correlations between SL tasks and reading ability, SL and bigram sensitivity, or between the SL tasks. We conclude that correlating SL with reading ability may not yield replicable results, partly due to low correlations between SL tasks.

scholarly journals Is Statistical Learning Ability Related to Reading Ability, and If So, Why?

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xenia Schmalz ◽  
Kristina Moll ◽  
Claudio Mulatti ◽  
Gerd Schulte-Körne
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Learning Ability

Measuring Word Learning Ability in Sequential Bilingual Children

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract The purpose of this article is to look at the word learning skills in sequential bilingual children—children who learn two languages (L1 and L2) at different times in their childhood. Learning a new word is a process of learning a word form and relating this form to a concept. For bilingual children, each concept might need to map onto two word forms (in L1 and in L2). In case studies, I present 3 typically developing Hmong-English bilingual preschoolers' word learning skills in Hmong (L1) and in English (L2) during an 8-week period (4 weeks for each language). The results showed gains in novel-word knowledge in L1 and in L2 when the amount of input is equal for both languages. The individual differences in novel word learning are discussed.

scholarly journals Reduced Visual Magnocellular Event-Related Potentials in Developmental Dyslexia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
John Stein
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Reverse Pattern ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
The Right ◽  
Visual Hemifields ◽  
Electroencephalogram Eeg

(1) Background—the magnocellular hypothesis proposes that impaired development of the visual timing systems in the brain that are mediated by magnocellular (M-) neurons is a major cause of dyslexia. Their function can now be assessed quite easily by analysing averaged visually evoked event-related potentials (VERPs) in the electroencephalogram (EEG). Such analysis might provide a useful, objective biomarker for diagnosing developmental dyslexia. (2) Methods—in adult dyslexics and normally reading controls, we recorded steady state VERPs, and their frequency content was computed using the fast Fourier transform. The visual stimulus was a black and white checker board whose checks reversed contrast every 100 ms. M- cells respond to this stimulus mainly at 10 Hz, whereas parvocells (P-) do so at 5 Hz. Left and right visual hemifields were stimulated separately in some subjects to see if there were latency differences between the M- inputs to the right vs. left hemispheres, and these were compared with the subjects’ handedness. (3) Results—Controls demonstrated a larger 10 Hz than 5 Hz fundamental peak in the spectra, whereas the dyslexics showed the reverse pattern. The ratio of subjects’ 10/5 Hz amplitudes predicted their reading ability. The latency of the 10 Hz peak was shorter during left than during right hemifield stimulation, and shorter in controls than in dyslexics. The latter correlated weakly with their handedness. (4) Conclusion—Steady state visual ERPs may conveniently be used to identify developmental dyslexia. However, due to the limited numbers of subjects in each sub-study, these results need confirmation.

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