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Effects of reading goals on reading comprehension, reading rate, and allocation of working memory in children and adolescents with spina bifida meningomyelocele

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2010

LIANNE ENGLISH
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
MARCIA A. BARNES*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, Houston, Texas Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
JACK M. FLETCHER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
MAUREEN DENNIS
Affiliation:
Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario Departments of Psychology and Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
KIMBERLY P. RAGHUBAR
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Marcia A. Barnes, Children’s Learning Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, 7000 Fannin Street, Suite 2431, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: marcia.barnes@uth.tmc.edu

Abstract

Spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with intact word decoding and deficient text and discourse comprehension. This study investigated the ability to adjust reading in accordance with specified reading goals in 79 children and adolescents with SBM (9–19 years of age) and 39 controls (8–17 years of age). Both groups demonstrated slower reading times and enhanced comprehension when reading to study or to come up with a title than when reading for specific information or for entertainment. For both groups, verbal working memory contributed to comprehension performance in those reading conditions hypothesized to require more cognitive effort. Despite their sensitivity to the goals of reading, the group with SBM answered fewer comprehension questions correctly across all reading goal conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesized cognitive underpinnings of comprehension deficits in SBM and to current models of text comprehension. (JINS, 2010, 16, 517–525.)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2010

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