Sequential Implicit Learning Ability Predicts Growth in Reading Skills in Typical Readers and Children with Dyslexia

Abstract

This study investigated in a longitudinal design how 74 Dutch children with dyslexia and 39 typically developing peers differed in sequential versus spatial implicit learning and overnight consolidation, and it examined whether implicit learning related to (pseudo)word reading development in Grades 5 and 6. The results showed that sequential, but not spatial, learning predicted growth in reading skills in children with and without dyslexia. Sequential implicit learning was also related to growth in pseudoword reading skills during an intervention in children with dyslexia, retrospectively. Furthermore, children with dyslexia had longer reaction times in general but did not differ from typical readers in how well or how quickly they learned either on an implicit learning task or in their overnight consolidation.

Statistical learning abilities and their relation to language

“…A full understanding of individual differences in SL and their role in language requires then an explicit theory regarding the exact computations that are tapped by each SL task, and the available statistical information that needs to be extracted from the sensory input in order to achieve successful attainment of different linguistic skills in different languages. This perspective is compatible with individual-differences studies already showing that some linguistic outcomes are only predicted by some SL sub-component(s), but not others (Misyak & Christiansen, 2012;Qi et al, 2019;van der Kleij et al, 2019). Future studies should further refine the predictions regarding when and why one should expect positive relations between a SL measure and a linguistic outcome.…”

“…This seems to be particularly true in studies with children, where recent reliability estimates present mixed findings. Thus, some studies report reasonable reliability estimates within a session (i.e., split-half reliability or internal consistency, Tong et al, 2019;Torkildsen et al, 2019;van der Kleij et al, 2019), but others reveal low test-retest reliability (Arnon, 2019;West et al, 2018), suggesting that current SL tasks still do not tap into a stable characteristic of a child (see also Conway, Arciuli, Lum, & Ullman, 2019;Krishnan & Watkins, 2019;West, Vadillo, Shanks, & Hulme, 2019 for commentaries discussing the impact of task reliability on outcomes of individual-and group-level studies). In general, more research is needed to fully understand how both task-related factors (e.g., number of trials, input modality, type of embedded regularities, and measurement domain) and sample-related properties (in particular-participants' age) influence task reliability, and how to maximize the reliability of a given task for a given population.…”

Visual statistical learning in children with and without DLD and its relation to literacy in children with DLD

“…Secondly, the hypothesis also predicts that the statistical learning deficit observed in children with DLD is domain-general and should thus also be present outside the auditory verbal domain. As for the first prediction, there is evidence that in typically developing (TD) children and in children with dyslexia, statistical learning of regularities between non-linguistic elements in the visual domain (e.g., unfamiliar cartoon-like characters, meaningless shapes or symbols) and visuomotor domain (e.g., a sequence of computer screen locations in which a cartoon or shape appears) correlates with reading performance (Arciuli & Simpson, 2012;Hedenius et al, 2013;Steacy et al, 2019;Vakil, Lowe, & Goldfus, 2015;van der Kleij, Groen, Segers, & Verhoeven, 2018;von Koss Torkildsen, Arciuli, & Wie, 2019) and grammar ability (meta-analysis by Hamrick et al, 2017). As for the second prediction, there is also evidence that children with DLD perform worse on statistical learning tasks with non-linguistic stimuli in the visuomotor domain than typically developing children (Lum, Conti-Ramsden, Morgan, & Ullman, 2014).…”

“…As for the second prediction, there is also evidence that children with DLD perform worse on statistical learning tasks with non-linguistic stimuli in the visuomotor domain than typically developing children (Lum, Conti-Ramsden, Morgan, & Ullman, 2014). Such visuomotor non-linguistic statistical learning deficit has also been observed in children with dyslexia (Lum, Ullman, & Conti-Ramsden, 2013), but see recent studies reporting no evidence for or against such deficit in dyslexia: Henderson & Warmington (2017), Schmalz, Altoè, & Mulatti (2017), van der Kleij et al (2018), van Witteloostuijn, Boersma, Wijnen, & Rispens (2019a. Children with dyslexia also perform more poorly in their detection of non-linguistic regularities (geometrical shapes or unfamiliar symbols) in the visual domain, hence they show a visual statistical learning (VSL) deficit (Pavlidou & Williams, 2014;Sigurdardottir et al, 2017).…”

Early Reading and Writing by Using the Manakok Game as a Manifestation of Basic Literacy

“…The ability to read early is more oriented to basic reading skills, namely literacy [11], [36]. That is, children can change and recite written symbols into meaningful sounds [37]- [39]. Found students' literate with letters written on their backs.…”