The emergence of automaticity in reading: Effects of orthographic depth and word decoding ability on an adjusted Stroop measure

Abstract

How long does it take for word reading to become automatic? Does the appearance and development of automaticity differ as a function of orthographic depth (e.g., French vs. English)? These questions were addressed in a longitudinal study of English and French beginning readers. The study focused on automaticity as obligatory processing as measured in the Stroop test. Measures of decoding ability and the Stroop effect were taken at three time points during first grade (and during second grade in the United Kingdom) in 84 children. The study is the first to adjust the classic Stroop effect for inhibition (of distracting colors). The adjusted Stroop effect was zero in the absence of reading ability, and it was found to develop in tandem with decoding ability. After a further control for decoding, no effects of age or orthography were found on the adjusted Stroop measure. The results are in line with theories of the development of whole word recognition that emphasize the importance of the acquisition of the basic orthographic code.

Stroop interference is a composite phenomenon: Evidence from distinct developmental trajectories of its components

“…BLUE green – DOG/XXX green ) – changes during the course of early development (e.g. Aïte et al, ; Grégoire, Perruchet, & Poulin‐Charronnat, ; Megherbi, Elbro, Oakhill, Segui, & New, ; Wright, ). Yet, this early change, as well as the underlying processing, still remains to be elucidated.…”

“…But they clearly diverge on the nature of the other process involved. For Megherbi et al (), the change in the magnitude of Stroop interference during childhood also indexes a developmental trajectory of automatization of word reading, whereas it is goal maintenance for Bub et al (). However, it is critical to note that, just as in studies subscribing to single‐process approaches discussed above, these allegedly multiple processes were in fact merely inferred from the overall magnitude of Stroop interference (e.g.…”

“…BLUE green -DOG/XXX green ) -changes during the course of early development (e.g. Aïte et al, 2018;Grégoire, Perruchet, & Poulin-Charronnat, 2015;Megherbi, Elbro, Oakhill, Segui, & New, 2018;Wright, 2017).…”

The distractor lexicality effect in the picture–word interference task

“…То же происходит в ситуации, когда слово предъявляется в качестве дистрактора. Поскольку чтение является более автоматизированным действием, нежели называние цветов или рисунков (позиция, разделяемая большинством сторонников теорий автоматизации Megherbi et al 2018]), участник Струп-теста непроизвольно читает словесный дистрактор. Артикуляция иррелевантного задаче ответа не происходит благодаря вмешательству системы контроля, подавляющей моторную репрезентацию дистрактора.…”

Avaliação da decodificação de palavras e pseudopalavras de crianças do ensino fundamental I: proposta de instrumento de rastreio

“…Geralmente, estes testes são compostos por listas de palavras e textos que devem ser lidos pelas crianças em um intervalo prédeterminado de tempo (13)(14)(15)(16)(17) . (13,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Assim, é descrita a existência de uma dupla rota, a fonológica e a lexical, que respondem pela aquisição e o desenvolvimento da decodificação da leitura (2,6,20,21,23,24) .…”