Abstract
This study examined the relative involvement of rapid auditory and visual temporal resolution mechanisms in the reading of phonologically regular pseudowords and English irregular words presented both in isolation and in contiguity as a series of six words. Seventy-nine undergraduates participated in a range of reading, visual temporal, and auditory temporal tasks. The correlation analyses suggested a general timing mechanism across modalities. There were more significant correlations between the visual temporal measures and irregular word reading and between the auditory measures and pseudoword reading. Auditory gap detection predicted pseudoword reading accuracies. The low temporal frequency flicker contrast sensitivity measure predicted the accuracies of isolated irregular words and pseudowords presented in contiguity. However, when a combined speed-accuracy score was used, visible persistence at both low and high spatial frequencies and auditory gap detection were active the in the reading of pseudowords presented in contiguity. Sensory processing skills in both visual and auditory modalities accounted for some of the variance in the reading performance of normal undergraduates, not just reading-impaired students.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ahissar, M., Protopapas, A., Reid, M., &Merzenich, M. M. (2000). Auditory processing parallels reading abilities in adults.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,97, 6832–6837.
Au, A., &Lovegrove, B. (2001a). The role of visual and auditory temporal processing in reading irregular and nonsense words.Perception,30, 1127–1142.
Au, A., &Lovegrove, B. (2001b). Temporal processing ability in above average and average readers.Perception & Psychophysics,63, 148–155.
Baayen, R. H., Piepenbrock, R., &Gulikers, L. (1995). The CELEX Lexical Database (Release 2) [CD-ROM]. Philadelphia, PA: Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania [Distributor].
Baddeley, A., &Gathercole, S. (1992). Learning to read: The role of the phonological loop. In J. Alegría, D. Holender, J. Junca de Morais, & M. Radeau (Eds.),Analytic approaches to human cognition (pp. 153–167). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Becker, C., Elliott, M. A., &Lachman, T. (2005). Evidence for impaired visuoperceptual organization in developmental dyslexics and its relation to temporal processes.Cognitive Neuropsychology,22, 499–522.
Benasich, A. A., &Tallal, P. (1996). Auditory temporal processing thresholds, habituation, and recognition memory over the 1st year.Infant Behavior & Development,19, 339–357.
Benasich, A. A., &Tallal, P. (2002). Infant discrimination of rapid auditory cues predicts later language impairment.Behavioural Brain Research,136, 31–49.
Ben-Yehudah, G., Banai, K., &Ahissar, M. (2004). Patterns of deficit in auditory temporal processing among dyslexic adults.NeuroReport,15, 627–631.
Boden, C., &Brodeur, D. A. (1999). Visual processing of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in adolescents with reading disabilities.Journal of Learning Disabilities,32, 58–71.
Booth, J. R., Perfetti, C. A., MacWhinney, B., &Hunt, S. B. (2000). The association of rapid temporal perception with orthographic and phonological processing in children and adults with reading impairment.Scientific Studies of Reading,4, 101–132.
Bourne, L. E., Young, S. R., &Angell, L. S. (1986). Resource allocation in reading: An interactive approach.Zeitschrift für Psychologie,194, 155–176.
Breier, J. I.,Gray, L. C., Fletcher, J. M., Foorman, B., &Klaas, P. (2002). Perception of speech and nonspeech stimuli by children with and without reading disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,82, 226–250.
Breitmeyer, B. G. (1980). Unmasking visual masking: A look at the “why” behind the veil of the “how.”Psychological Review,87, 52–69.
Breitmeyer, B. G., &Ogmen, H. (2000). Recent models and findings in visual backward masking: A comparison, review, and update.Perception & Psychophysics,62, 1572–1595.
Bretherton, L., &Holmes, V. M. (2003). The relationship between auditory temporal processing, phonemic awareness, and reading disability.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,84, 218–243.
Burr, D. C., Morrone, M. C., &Ross, J. (1994). Selective suppression of the magnocellular visual pathway during saccadic eye movements.Nature,371, 511–513.
Cacace, A. T., McFarland, D. J., Ouimet, J. R., Schrieber, E. J., &Marro, P. (2000). Temporal processing deficits in remediationresistant reading-impaired children.Audiology & Neuro-Otology,5, 83–97.
Castles, A., &Coltheart, M. (1993). Varieties of developmental dyslexia.Cognition,47, 149–180.
Chase, C., Ashourzadeh, A., Kelly, C., Monfette, S., &Kinsey, K. (2003). Can the magnocellular pathway read? Evidence from studies of color.Vision Research,43, 1211–1222.
Chase, C., &Jenner, A. R. (1993). Magnocellular visual deficits affect temporal processing of dyslexics. In P. Tallal, A. M. Galaburda, R. R. Llinás, & C. von Euler (Eds.),Temporal information processing in the nervous system: Special reference to dyslexia and dysphasia (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 682, pp. 326–329). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
Chiappe, P., Stringer, R., Siegel, L. S., & Stanovich, K. E. (2002). Why the timing deficit hypothesis does not explain reading disability in adults.Reading & Writing,15, 73–107.
Coltheart, M. (1978). Lexical access in simple reading tasks. In G. Underwood (Ed.),Strategies of information processing (pp. 151–216). San Diego: Academic Press.
Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., &Ziegler, J. (2001). DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud.Psychological Review,108, 204–256.
Conlon, E., Sanders, M., &Zapart, S. (2004). Temporal processing in poor adult readers.Neuropsychologia,42, 142–157.
Cornelissen, P. L., &Hansen, P. C. (1998). Motion detection, letter position encoding, and single word reading.Annals of Dyslexia,48, 155–188.
Cornelissen, P. [L.], Richardson, A., Mason, A., Fowler, S., &Stein, J. (1995). Contrast sensitivity and coherent motion detection measured at photopic luminance levels in dyslexics and controls.Vision Research,35, 1483–1495.
Demb, J. B., Boynton, G. M., Best, M., &Heeger, D. J. (1997). Psychophysical evidence for a magnocellular pathway deficit in dyslexia.Vision Research,38, 1555–1559.
Denenberg, V. H. (1999). A critique of Mody, Studdert-Kennedy, and Brady’s “Speech perception deficits in poor readers: Auditory processing or phonological coding?”Journal of Learning Disabilities,32, 379–383.
Edwards, V. T., Giaschi, D. E., Dougherty, R. F., Edgell, D., Bjornson, B. H., Lyons, C., &Douglas, R. M. (2004). Psychophysical indexes of temporal processing abnormalities in children with developmental dyslexia.Developmental Neuropsychology,25, 321–354.
Facoetti, A., &Lorusso, M. L. (2000). Different approaches in the study of developmental dyslexia.Saggi: Child Development & Disabilities,26, 65–71.
Farmer, M. E., &Klein, R. M. (1995). The evidence for a temporal processing deficit linked to dyslexia: A review.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,2, 460–493.
France, S. J., Rosner, B. S., Hansen, P. C., Calvin, C., Talcott, J. B., Richardson, A. J., &Stein, J. F. (2002). Auditory frequency discrimination in adult developmental dyslexics.Perception & Psychophysics,64, 169–179.
Galaburda, A. M., &Livingstone, M. [S.] (1993). Evidence for a magnocellular defect in developmental dyslexia. In P. Tallal, A. M. Galaburda, R. R. Llinás, & C. von Euler (Eds.),Temporal information processing in the nervous system: Special reference to dyslexia and dysphasia (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 682, pp. 70–82). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
Gross-Glenn, K., Skottun, B. C., Glenn, W., Kushch, A., Lingua, R., Dunbar, M., et al. (1995). Contrast sensitivity in dyslexia.Visual Neuroscience,12, 153–163.
Hari, R., &Kiesilä, P. (1996). Deficit of temporal auditory processing in dyslexic adults.Neuroscience Letters,205, 138–140.
Hautus, M. J., Setchell, G. J., Waldie, K. E., &Kirk, I. J. (2003). Age-related improvements in auditory temporal resolution in readingimpaired children.Dyslexia,9, 37–45.
Heath, S. M., Hogben, J. H., &Clark, C. D. (1999). Auditory temporal processing in disabled readers with and without oral language delay.Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines,40, 637–647.
Heiervang, E., Stevenson, J., &Hugdahl, K. (2002). Auditory processing in children with dyslexia.Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines,43, 931–938.
Hill, R., &Lovegrove, W. J. (1993). One word at a time: A solution to the visual deficit in the Specific Reading Disabled? In S. F. Wright & R. Groner (Eds.),Facets of dyslexia and its remediation (pp. 65–76). Amsterdam: Elsevier, North-Holland.
Hood, M., &Conlon, E. (2004). Visual and auditory temporal processing and early reading development.Dyslexia,10, 234–252.
Irwin, D. E., &Brockmole, J. R. (2004). Suppressing where but not what: The effect of saccades on dorsal- and ventral-stream visual processing.Psychological Science,15, 467–473.
Juola, J. F., Tiritoğlu, A., &Pleunis, J. (1995). Reading text presented on a small display.Applied Ergonomics,26, 227–229.
Kelly, J. B., Rooney, B. J., &Phillips, D. P. (1996). Effects of bilateral auditory cortical lesions on gap-detection thresholds in the ferret(Mustela putorius). Behavioral Neuroscience,110, 542–550.
Kraus, N., McGee, T. J., Carrell, T. D., Zecker, S. G., Nicol, T. G., &Koch, D. B. (1996). Auditory neurophysiologic responses and discrimination deficits in children with learning problems.Science, 273, 971–973.
Laasonen, M., Service, E., &Virsu, V. (2002). Crossmodal temporal order and processing acuity in developmentally dyslexic young adults.Brain & Language,80, 340–354.
Livingstone, M. S., &Hubel, D. H. (1987). Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, movement, and depth.Journal of Neuroscience,7, 3416–3468.
Livingstone, M. [S.], &Hubel, D. [H.] (1988). Segregation of form, color, movement, and depth: Anatomy, physiology, and perception.Science,240, 740–749.
Lovegrove, W., Heddle, M., &Slaghuis, W. (1980). Reading disability: Spatial frequency specific deficits in visual information store.Neuropsychologia,18, 111–115.
Lyytinen, H., Guttorm, T. K., Huttunen, T., Hämäläinen, J., Leppänen, P. H. T., &Vesterinen, M. (2005). Psychophysiology of developmental dyslexia: A review of findings including studies of children at risk for dyslexia.Journal of Neurolinguistics,18, 167–195.
Martos, F. J., &Marmolejo, A. (1993). Visible persistence in developmental dyslexia. In P. Tallal, A. M. Galaburda, R. R. Llinás, & C. von Euler (Eds.),Temporal information processing in the nervous system: Special reference to dyslexia and dysphasia (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 682, pp. 383–386). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
May, J. G., Williams, M. C., &Dunlap, W. P. (1988). Temporal order judgments in good and poor readers.Neuropsychologia,26, 917–924.
McAnally, K. I.,Castles A., &Bannister, S. (2004). Auditory temporal pattern discrimination and reading ability.Journal of Speech, Language, & Hearing Research,47, 1237–1243,
McAnally, K. I., &Stein, J. F. (1996). Auditory temporal coding in dyslexia.Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B,263, 961–965.
McArthur, G. M., &Bishop, D. V. M. (2001). Auditory perceptual processing in people with reading and oral language impairments: Current issues and recommendations.Dyslexia,7, 150–170.
McCroskey, R. L., &Kidder, H. C. (1980). Auditory fusion among learning disabled, reading disabled, and normal children.Journal of Learning Disabilities,13, 69–76.
McGeorge, P., Crawford, J. R., &Kelly, S. W. (1996). The relationship between WAIS-R abilities and speed of processing in a word identification task.Intelligence,23, 175–190.
Meyler A., &Breznitz, Z. (2005). Visual, auditory and cross-modal processing of linguistic and nonlinguistic temporal patterns among adult dyslexic readers.Dyslexia,11, 93–115.
Miller, S. L., &Tallal, P. (1995). A behavioral neuroscience approach to developmental language disorders: Evidence for a rapid temporal processing deficit. In D. Cicchetti, & D. J. Cohen (Eds.),Developmental psychopathology: Vol 2. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 274–298). New York: Wiley.
Mitchell, T. V., &Neville, H. J. (2004). Asynchronies in the development of electrophysiological responses to motion and color.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,16, 1363–1374.
Mody, M., Studdert-Kennedy, M., &Brady, S. (1997). Speech perception deficits in poor readers: Auditory processing or phonological coding?Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,64, 199–231.
Nelson, H. E. (1982).National Adult Reading Test (NART). Windsor: NFER-Nelson.
Nittrouer, S. (1999). Do temporal processing deficits cause phonological processing problems?Journal of Speech, Language, & Hearing Research,42, 925–942.
Olson, R., &Datta, H. (2002). Visual temporal processing in readingdisabled and normal twins.Reading & Writing,15, 127–149.
Pammer, K., Lavis, R., &Cornelissen, P. (2004). Visual encoding mechanisms and their relationship to text presentation preference.Dyslexia,10, 77–94.
Phillips, D. P., &Farmer, M. E. (1990). Acquired word deafness, and the temporal grain of sound representation in the primary auditory cortex.Behavioral Brain Research,40, 85–94.
Ramus, F. (2004). Neurobiology of dyslexia: A reinterpretation of the data.Trends in Neurosciences,27, 720–726.
Raven, J. C. (1962).Advanced Raven’s Progressive Matrices. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Raz, N., Willerman, L., &Yama, M. (1987). On sense and senses: Intelligence and auditory information processing.Personality & Individual Differences,8, 201–210.
Reed, M. A. (1989). Speech perception and the discrimination of brief auditory cues in reading disabled children.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,48, 270–292.
Rose, S. A., Feldman, J. F., Jankowski, J. J., &Futterweit, L. R. (1999). Visual and auditory temporal processing, cross-modal transfer, and reading.Journal of Learning Disabilities,32, 256–266.
Rosen, S. (2003). Auditory processing in dyslexia and specific language impairment: Is there a deficit? What is its nature? Does it explain anything?Journal of Phonetics,31, 509–527.
Scheuerpflug, P., Plume, E., Vetter, V., Schulte-Körne, G., Deimel, W., Bartling, J., et al. (2004). Visual information processing in dyslexic children.Clinical Neurophysiology,115, 90–96.
Schulte-Körne, G., Deimel, W., Bartling, J., &Remschmidt, H. (1999). The role of phonological awareness, speech perception, and auditory temporal processing for dyslexia.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,8(Suppl. 3), III/28-III/34.
Schulte-Körne, G., Deimel, W., Bartling, J., &Remschmidt, H. (2004). Motion-onset VEPs in dyslexia: Evidence for visual perceptual deficit.NeuroReport,15, 1075–1078.
Shapiro, K. L., Ogden, N., &Lind-Blad, F. (1990). Temporal processing in dyslexia.Journal of Learning Disabilities,23, 99–107.
Share, D. L., Jorm, A. F., Maclean, R., &Matthews, R. (2002). Temporal processing and reading disability.Reading & Writing,15, 151–178.
Slaghuis, W. L., &Lovegrove, W. J. (1985). Spatial-frequency-dependent visible persistence and specific reading disability.Brain & Cognition,4, 219–240.
Solan, H. A. (2004). Visual and auditory processing in reading disability: A matter of cognitive dissonance.Journal of Optometric Vision Development,35, 16–21.
Solan, H. A., Hansen, P. C., Shelley-Tremblay, J., &Ficarra, A. (2003). Coherent motion threshold measurements for M-cell deficit differ for above- and below-average readers.Optometry,74, 727–734.
Stein, J. (2003). Visual motion sensitivity and reading.Neuropsychologia,41, 1785–1793.
Stein, J., &Talcott, J. (1999). Impaired neuronal timing in developmental dyslexia: The magnocellular hypothesis.Dyslexia,5, 59–77.
Studdert-Kennedy, M. (2002). Deficits in phoneme awareness do not arise from failures in rapid auditory processing.Reading & Writing,15, 5–14.
Studdert-Kennedy, M., &Mody, M. (1995). Auditory temporal perception deficits in the reading-impaired: A critical review of the evidence.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,2, 508–514.
Studdert-Kennedy, M., Mody, M., &Brady, S. (2000). Speech perception deficits in poor readers: A reply to Denenberg’s critique.Journal of Learning Disabilities,33, 317–321.
Tabachnick, B. G., &Fidell, L. S. (2001).Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Talcott, J. B., Gram, A., Van Ingelghem, M., Witton, C., Stein, J. F., &Toennessen, F. E. (2003). Impaired sensitivity to dynamic stimuli in poor readers of a regular orthography.Brain & Language,87, 259–266.
Talcott, J. B., Witton, C., Hebb, G. S., Stoodley, C. J., Westwood, E. A., France, S. J., et al. (2002). On the relationship between dynamic visual and auditory processing and literacy skills: Results from a large primary-school study.Dyslexia,8, 204–225.
Talcott, T. B., Witton, C., McLean, M. F., Hansen, P. C., Rees, A., Green, G. G. R., &Stein, J. (2000). Dynamic sensory sensitivity and children’s word decoding skills.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,97, 2952–2957.
Tallal, P. (1980). Auditory temporal perception, phonics, and reading disabilities in children.Brain & Language,9, 182–198.
Tallal, P. (2003). Language learning disabilities: Integrating research approaches.Current Directions in Psychological Science,12, 206–211.
Tallal, P., Stark, R. E., &Mellits, D. (1985). Identification of language-impaired children on the basis of rapid perception and production skills.Brain & Language,25, 314–322.
Trehub, S. E., &Henderson, J. L. (1996). Temporal resolution in infancy and subsequent language development.Journal of Speech & Hearing Research,39, 1315–1320.
Walker, M. M., Shinn, J. B., Cranford, J. L., Givens, G. D., &Holbert, D. (2002). Auditory temporal processing performance of young adults with reading disorders.Journal of Speech, Language, & Hearing Research,45, 598–605.
Wetherill, G. B., &Levitt, H. (1965). Sequential estimation of points on a psychometric function.British Journal of Mathematical & Statistical Psychology,18, 1–10.
Williams, M. J., Stuart, G. W., Castles, A., &McAnally, K. I. (2003). Contrast sensitivity in subgroups of developmental dyslexia.Vision Research,43, 467–477.
Wilmer, J. B., Richardson, A. J., Chen, Y., &Stein, J. (2004). Two visual motion processing deficits in developmental dyslexia associated with different reading skills deficits.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,16, 528–540.
Witton, C., Stein, J. F., Stoodley, C. J., Rosner, B. S., &Talcott, J. B. (2002). Separate influences of acoustic AM and FM sensitivity on the phonological decoding skills of impaired and normal readers.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,14, 866–874.
Witton, C., Talcott, J. B., Hansen, P. C., Richardson, A. J., Griffiths, T. D., Rees, A., et al. (1998). Sensitivity to dynamic auditory and visual stimuli predicts nonword reading ability in both dyslexic and normal readers.Current Biology,8, 791–797.
Wolf, M., &Bowers, P. G. (1999). The double-deficit hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias.Journal of Educational Psychology,91, 415–438.
Woodcock, R. W. (1984).Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery. Allen, TX: DLM Teaching Resources.
Woodcock, R. W. (1987).Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Au, A., Lovegrove, B. The contribution of rapid visual and auditory processing to the reading of irregular words and pseudowords presented singly and in contiguity. Perception & Psychophysics 69, 1344–1359 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192951
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192951