Eye Movements During RAN as an Operationalization of the RAN-Reading “Microcosm”

Abstract

Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is a strong predictor of reading aloud, though there is little agreement on what underpins RAN or how it relates to reading. Some theorize phonological skills, while others suggest that RAN reflects the "microcosm" of cognitive and attentional processes also required for reading, with more recent research using eye movements in an attempt to study this relationship. In the current study, we aimed to extend previous investigations to identify whether the temporal patterns of eye movements predict RAN and can, therefore, be established as a method to study the cognitive processes underlying RAN that could then be utilized to elucidate the relationship of RAN to reading. A Gazepoint eye tracker was used to record the eye movements of 93 learner readers aged 5-8 years (M age = 7.00) while performing a custom computerized alphabetic RAN task. Text reading accuracy, comprehension and rate; nonverbal intelligence; and phonological awareness abilities were also assessed. Regression analyses showed that, independently of phonological awareness, eye movements [Fixation Count (FC) and Fixation Duration (FD)] measured during RAN tasks were highly reflective of children's rapid naming performance (92.8%). Both mean FC and mean FD during RAN tasks also predicted text reading accuracy (36.3%), comprehension (31.6%), and rate (36.2%) scores, and in predicting these text reading skills there was a high level of shared variance with RAN performance. In a sub-sample of participants, longer average FDs and counts independently discriminated children with reading difficulties (n = 18; aged 7-9) from neurotypical children matched for age (n = 18), but not from younger neurotypical children matched for reading level (n = 18; aged 5-6). Together, these results suggest that the analysis of eye movements recorded during RAN allows for the operationalization of many of the spatially and temporallybound cognitive and attentional processes that underpin the RAN, and a step towards elucidating its relationship to reading.

The Contribution of Oculomotor Functions to Rates of Visual Information Processing in Younger and Older Adults

“…The RAN stimuli as depicted in Fig. 3 were developed in our lab and have been used in other research from our lab 51,87 . In the numeric condition, participants were presented with single-syllable colored numbers ranging from 1-9 presented in Arial Black font, in 72 pt, and participants were required to www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ sequentially name each number out loud from left to right to the bottom of the page, as fast and accurately as possible.…”

The Age-Related Changes in Speed of Visual Perception, Visual Verbal and Visuomotor Performance, and Nonverbal Intelligence During Early School Years

“…RAN has long been considered a predictor of reading ability (Denckla and Rudel, 1974;Georgiou et al, 2013;Siddaiah and Padakannaya, 2015). RAN has been regularly used in reading research since first introduced by Denckla and Rudel (1974) and is widely used in children aged 4-10 with test-retest reliability r = 0.77 (Denckla and Rudel, 1974;Wagner et al, 1999;Crewther et al, 2011Crewther et al, , 2017Savage et al, 2018;Barutchu et al, 2020;Peters et al, 2020). RAN of objects was chosen as a measure of how fast and accurately a participant could verbally name all 36 everyday objects shown on one A4 sheet.…”

“…To do this, we concurrently assessed the contribution of rates of simple, non-motor measured visual object recognition (Inspection Time task) modified from Vickers et al (1972), visuo-verbal information processing (Rapid Automatic Naming of objects), and visuomotor eye-hand co-ordination and age and schooling to the prediction of non-verbal IQ (a global mechanism). The RAN of familiar objects task was chosen both as a measure of visual object verbalization and because it is a well-accepted predictor of future reading ability (Denckla and Rudel, 1974;Crewther et al, 2011Crewther et al, , 2017Siddaiah and Padakannaya, 2015;Savage et al, 2018;Landerl et al, 2019;Peters et al, 2020). Visuomotor skills have traditionally been assessed in terms of complex tasks with emphasis on manual timing (Tiffin and Asher, 1948;Wilson et al, 2000;Hart et al, 2006), rather than as measures of speed of accurate eye-hand coordination.…”

Action Video Game Training improves Text Reading Accuracy, Rate and Comprehension in Children with Dyslexia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The task, a strong predictor of reading, measures rate of visual to verbal information processing. It was also used to study changes in eye movement behaviour as it minimizes stimulus-based factors known to in uence eye movements, including word di culty, length and predictability 12 . Participants were required to rapidly name aloud 36 stimuli (four lines of nine stimuli).…”

“…Reading is a dynamic process reliant on temporally and spatially accurate attention, with well-organized eye movements to shift attention. Those with dyslexia often demonstrate impairments in dynamic visual attention skills, including temporal processing 8 , distribution of attention 9 , 'sluggish attentional shifting' 10 , and ine cient planning and coordination of rapid sequential eye movements during reading and non-reading tasks [11][12][13] . Such dynamic attention is predominantly driven by the magnocellulardorsal visual stream that is responsive to high temporal and low spatial frequencies, and frequently found to be impaired in dyslexia 14,15 .…”