Physical Maturation and Phonological Skills in Children

It was hypothesised that physically mature children would exceed their less mature classmates on two standardised tests of phonological ability, one measuring the repetition of aurally presented pseudowords and the other, the reading of pseudowords. Phonological skills were assessed for 94 5to 11-year-old children, and physical maturities were estimated from relative stature (RS), the percentage of estimated adult height each had attained. After the effects of chronological age had been removed, individual differences in physical maturity positively predicted pseudoword repetition, although this effect was largely limited to males. The results provide partial support for the hypothesis and suggest that individual differences in physical maturation are associated with phonological skills, but such linkage is likely mediated by gender and task characteristics.