The Contribution of Executive Skills to Reading Comprehension

Sesma, Heather Whitney; Mahone, E. Mark; Levine, Terry M.; Eason, Sarah H.; Cutting, Laurie E.

doi:10.1080/09297040802220029

Cited by 399 publications

(392 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Reading comprehension is a highly demanding activity that involves different processes, with a particularly important part being played by WM and the associated executive processes (e.g., Sesma et al 2009). WM training in children have had some effect in improving or sustaining reading comprehension (Henry et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvements in Reading Comprehension Performance After a Training Program Focusing on Executive Processes of Working Memory

et al. 2017

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Reading comprehension is a complex cognitive task crucial to success in formal education and everyday life activities. Working memory (WM) and associated executive processes have been shown to be implicated in reading comprehension abilities. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of a program for improving reading comprehension skills based on reading activities that require WM and associated executive processes. The study involved 48 third-graders (8-9 years old), who were assigned to three groups: a trained group that received training on reading comprehension and on the mechanisms related to this ability; an active control group that attended extra in-school activities designed to improve children's reading comprehension; and a passive control group that only attended normal lessons. The training program consisted of ten sessions conducted in the classroom, focusing on WM and associated executive functions embedded in reading comprehension activities. The efficacy of the training was examined in terms of both specific improvements in reading comprehension and WM, and transfer effects to more ecological reading comprehension and nonverbal reasoning tasks. Long-term gains were also examined after 2 months. The results showed that the training was effective in directly improving the children's reading comprehension and WM, with some maintenance effects too, while it elicited limited gains in the more ecological reading comprehension task, and no transfer effects on nonverbal reasoning. Overall, the present findings suggest that training involving the use of WM and its executive processes during reading comprehension activities is a promising approach to sustaining reading comprehension.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvements in Reading Comprehension Performance After a Training Program Focusing on Executive Processes of Working Memory

et al. 2017

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“…Numerous studies have found that CE predicted variance in reading decoding (Gathercole et al, 2006;Jerman et al, 2012;Nevo & Breznitz, 2011;Swanson & Ashbaker, 2000), reading comprehension (Sesma, Mahone, Levine, Eason, & Cutting, 2009;Swanson & Jerman, 2007), reading fluency (Berninger et al, 2006;Nevo & Breznitz, 2011;Swanson & Jerman, 2007), and mathematical ability (Andersson, 2008;Jerman et al, 2012). Conversely, some studies have not found a predictive effect of CE on reading accuracy and/or reading comprehension (Berninger et al, 2006;Sesma et al, 2009). …”

Section: Working Memory Impairments In Developmental Dyslexiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Working Memory in Portuguese Children With Developmental Dyslexia

Moura¹,

Simões²,

Pereira³

2014

Applied Neuropsychology: Child

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A Portuguese sample of 50 children with developmental dyslexia and 50 typical readers who were matched for age (8 to 12 years old) were tested on measures of working memory.Relative to the typical readers, the children with developmental dyslexia performed significantly lower on phonological loop and central executive tasks; however, they exhibited no impairments on visuospatial sketchpad tasks. After controlling for the influence of the phonological loop, the group differences in central executive were no longer significant. The results of a receiver operating characteristics curve analysis and a binary logistic regression analysis suggested that the phonological loop and central executive tasks (but not the visuospatial sketchpad tasks) were relevant variables for identifying children with developmental dyslexia. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that the phonological loop and central executive (Backward Digit Span only) tasks were significant predictors of reading and spelling abilities.

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“…In fact, the present results indicate and corroborate the finding that nonword repetition, nonword reading, and workingmemory tasks are fundamental tools in the assessment and identification of children with reading difficulties. However, we do also recognize that it is not possible to ground ourselves exclusively in these kinds of tasks, because there are other characteristics that can be present and contribute to the child's specific profile, such as executive functions deficits (Sesma, Mahone, Levine, Eason, & Cutting, 2009) or visual perception difficulties (Williams et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuropsychological Assessment of Children With Reading Disabilities From 8 to 10 Years Old: An Exploratory Portuguese Study

Silva

Martins

2014

Applied Neuropsychology: Child

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Reading disabilities are one of the most significant causes of school failure and may result from different causes and cognitive processes. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was applied to a control group of 102 children (46 girls, 56 boys) with no history of learning disabilities and 32 children (13 girls, 19 boys) with poor reading achievement (PRA) to characterize their cognitive profile. A principal component analysis of the cognitive measures was undertaken to identify cognitive domains. Age-adjusted normative data were computed from controls for verbal and visuospatial abilities, psychomotor skills, executive functions, and a total score. Significant differences were found between the 2 groups. Although single tests could not identify children with PRA, measures of oral and written language, immediate and working memory, calculation, and verbal learning discriminated the 2 groups. A logistic regression model using these factors allowed us to identify 91.2% of healthy children and 96.9% of children with PRA. PRA may result from different patterns of cognitive difficulties, and it is more common in children with oral language and working-memory deficits. Wide-range cognitive testing is necessary to identify strong and weak areas to plan personalized intervention programs.

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The Contribution of Executive Skills to Reading Comprehension

Cited by 399 publications

References 42 publications

Improvements in Reading Comprehension Performance After a Training Program Focusing on Executive Processes of Working Memory

Improvements in Reading Comprehension Performance After a Training Program Focusing on Executive Processes of Working Memory

Working Memory in Portuguese Children With Developmental Dyslexia

Neuropsychological Assessment of Children With Reading Disabilities From 8 to 10 Years Old: An Exploratory Portuguese Study

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