Naming speed, memory, and visual processing in reading disability

Naming speed, auditory short-term memory, and speed of visual processing have been found to differentiate reading disabled children from normal readers. Tests of these variables were among the measures administered to children referred to a university clinic for assessment of attentional and learning problems. Thirty-nine children between 7 and 15 years of age were studied to investigate the independence of these variables in accounting for scores on tests of three reading subskills. The effects of age, general intellectual ability, and attentiveness were controlled statistically. Regression analyses showed that naming speed contributed unique variance to all reading subtests. Its contribution to the Word Attack subtest (nonsense word decoding) was particularly strong. The variance shared by auditory memory and Word Attack was fully attributable to naming speed. Visual processing speed contributed to Word Attack partly through variance shared with naming speed and partly through unique variance. Aspects of the naming speed-reading relationship are discussed.