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Developing Normal Reading Skills: Aspects of the Visual Processes Underlying Word Recognition,☆☆

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Abstract

Visual word recognition performance of first graders (mean age: 6.6 years) through fifth graders (mean age: 10.8 years) was investigated using an experimental technique that is known to elicit the “viewing position effect” in skilled readers. The results showed that this effect, which consists of a systematic variation of performance as a function of fixation position within words, emerged early at the end of the 1st year of reading instruction. Visual field asymmetries in recognizing individual letters in words were also observed starting from first grade. Effects of word familiarity were obtained as early as in second grade. In contrast to skilled readers, children showed a marked word-length effect, which persisted through the first 5 years of instruction. No other qualitative differences between beginning and skilled readers were apparent. Hence, the basics of reading skills, as measured by the present technique, seem to be attained very early during acquisition. Further experience mainly reduces the time a reader needs to extract visual information from print.

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    This study was accomplished while both authors were at the Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives, CNRS, in Marseille. The research was supported by a grant from La Fondation pour la Recherche Medicale to T. A. Nazir. The authors are grateful to Mr. Christian Soulier, Director of the primary school (Timone, Marseille), for his support in the accomplishment of this study and to the children for their enthusiastic participation. We thank K. Rayner and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments.

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    Address correspondence and reprint requests to Valérie Aghababian, UFR de Psychologie, Université de Provence, 29 Avenue Robert Schuman, 13621 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 1, France. E-mail: [email protected] (Nazir).

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