Decoding, Semantic Processing, and Reading Comprehension Skill

To explore the relationship between single-word decoding, single-word semantic processing, and text comprehension skill, a set of decoding tests and picture-word interference tasks were administered to third and fifth graders who were skilled and less skilled comprehenders. While results on the decoding tests indicated that unskilled comprehenders possessed weak decoding skills compared to skilled comprehenders, results on the interference tasks indicated that these groups did not differ on the extraction of meaning from single printed words. These findings indicate that decoding and semantic processing are separable reading processes and that problems in reading comprehension cannot be attributed to a failure to obtain single-word meaning.