Discrepancy poor verbal skills in poor readers: A failure of learning or ability?

Abstract

Poor verbal skills in poor readers have long been reported in the literature. There have been many attempts to understand the interaction between poor verbal ability and poor verbal achievement. The methodological problems are considerable, including the measurement of verbal ability, which has been confounded by previous learning. A new reasoning test, the VESPAR, has been designed to measure novel problem solving and thus to be less reliant on acquired verbal skills. One hundred and seventy 14-year-olds completed the VESPAR, the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) and a single-word reading test. Overall, verbal scores were weaker than spatial scores. A subgroup of 38 pupils with particularly marked discrepancies between verbal and non-verbal CAT was identified. The especially discrepant pupils were matched with other non-discrepant pupils from the year group for either verbal or non-verbal CAT. The discrepant group's reading was at the same level as the matched verbal CAT group. However, the primary verbal ability of the discrepancy group, as measured on the VESPAR, was greater than the matched verbal CAT group. This raises the possibility that CAT- but not VESPAR-discrepant pupils may be at particular risk of under-achievement in the verbal domain.

Revealing hidden talents: The development, use, and benefit of VESPARCH

“…We find that there are roughly the same numbers of children with much higher spatial than verbal scores as there are in the opposite direction. This contrasts with findings for CAT scores, particularly with those from underperforming schools, where it is more common for spatial scores to exceed verbal (see, e.g., Langdon, Rosenblatt, & Mellanby, ; Mellanby et al ., ). Furthermore, similar imbalance between verbal and performance scores in IQ tests such as the WISC‐R has been reported for decades for children from relatively deprived backgrounds (see, e.g., Berk, ; Moffitt & Silva, ; Whittington, ).…”

“…The VESPAR tests have been successfully administered and informative in a range of research studies, such as those investigating cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis (Camp et al ., , ); those looking into the role of the left and right hemispheres in reasoning with regard to unilateral hemisphere lesion patients (Langdon & Warrington, ), and as a part of a battery of tests exploring sequential learning in dyslexia (Kelly, Griffiths, & Frith, ). In , Langdon, Rosenblatt and Mellanby used VESPAR to assess reasoning ability in children aged 14–15 and showed that for this group it could give a measure for the full range of ability. However, pilot testing of VESPAR in younger children (aged 11–12) showed that it was too difficult.…”

Institute for Research on Poverty

“…Children who were language-impaired had more difficulties with cognitive testing and made a greater number of errors in cognitive processing (Condino et al, 1990). Additionally, British researchers found that poor verbal and language skills among school children was related to poor performance on cognitive tests (Langdon et al, 1998). Another study involving low-birthweight children found that differences in language skill and motor skills affected cognitive ability independently of other factors (Taylor et al, 1995).…”