Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T09:24:37.592Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Identifying Subtypes of Reading Disability in the Spanish Language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Juan E. Jiménez González*
Affiliation:
University of La Laguna
Gustavo Ramírez Santana
Affiliation:
University of La Laguna
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan E. Jiménez González, Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación.Universidad de La Laguna. Campus de Guajara. 38200 Islas Canarias (Spain). E-mail: ejimenez@ull.es

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the dyslexic subtypes in a transparent orthography (i.e., Spanish language). The subtyping procedure used comparison with chronological-age-matched and reading-level controls on reaction times (RTs) to high frequency words and to pseudowords. Using regression-based procedures, the authors identified 20 phonological and 48 surface dyslexics from a sample of 89 dyslexic third-grade children by comparing them to chronological-age-matched controls on RTs to high frequency and pseudoword reading. However, when the dyslexic subtypes were defined by reference to reading-level controls, the same 20 phonological dyslexics were defined, but only 19 surface dyslexics were identified. Nevertheless, the results of the phonological awareness tasks and error analysis do not validate the division of the dyslexic sample into these subgroups.

Esta investigación analiza los subtipos disléxicos en una ortografía transparente (i.e., lengua española). El procedimiento utilizado para la identificación de subtipos disléxicos consistió en la comparación de los tiempos de latencia (TL) entre palabras familiares y pseudopalabras, en una tarea de denominación. Se tomó como referencia un grupo control de lectores normales igualado en edad cronológica y un grupo control de lectores normales más jóvenes igualado en nivel lector con el grupo experimental de disléxicos. Mediante la técnica de regresión estadística, y como resultado de comparar los TL en palabras familiares y pseudopalabras de la muestra de disléxicos con los obtenidos en el grupo control de igual edad cronológica, se identificaron un total de 20 disléxicos fonológicos y 48 disléxicos de superficie de una muestra de 89 disléxicos de tercer curso de Primaria. Cuando los subtipos disléxicos fueron definidos con referencia al grupo control igualado en nivel lector, se identificaron a los mismos disléxicos fonológicos, pero solamente fueron identificados un total de 19 disléxicos de superficie. Sin embargo, los resultados obtenidos en las tareas de validación demuestran que ambos subtipos disléxicos comparten los mismos problemas fonológicos. Se concluye que la existencia de subtipos disléxicos podría estar reflejando las diferencias existentes entre los sistemas ortográficos.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Álvarez, C., Carreiras, M., & de Vega, M. (1992). Estudios estadísticos de la ortografía castellana: (1) la frecuencia silábica. Cognitiva, 4, 75105.Google Scholar
Balota, D.A., & Chumbley, J.I. (1984). Are lexical decisions a good measure of lexical access? The role of word frequency in the neglected decision stage. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 10, 340357.Google ScholarPubMed
Baluch, B., & Besner, D. (1991). Visual word recognition: Evidence for strategic control of lexical and nonlexical routines in oral reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 17, 644652.Google Scholar
Boder, E. (1973). Developmental dyslexia: A diagnostic approach based on three atypical reading-spelling patterns. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 15, 663687.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowey, J., & Francis, J. (1991). Phonological analysis as a function of age and exposure to reading instruction. Applied Psycholinguistics, 12, 91121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, P., & Impey, L. (1986). The similarity between normal readers and developmental acquired dyslexics. Cognition, 24, 121137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castles, A., & Coltheart, M. (1993). Varieties of developmental dyslexia. Cognition, 47, 149180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coltheart, M. (1978). Lexical access in simple reading tasks. In Underwood, G. (Ed.), Strategies of information processing (pp. 151216). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cuetos, F., Valle-Arroyo, F., & Suárez, M.P. (1996). A case of phonological dyslexia in Spanish. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 13, 124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Defior, S., Justicia, F., & Martos, F. (1996). The influence of lexical and sublexical variables in normal and poor Spanish readers. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 8, 487497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vega, M., & Carreiras, M. (1989, September). The role of graphemic frequency in visual word processing. Communication presented at the 3rd European Conference for Learning and Instruction. MadridGoogle Scholar
De Vega, M., Carreiras, M., Gutiérrez, M., & Alonso-Quecuty, M. L. (1990). Lectura y comprensión. Una perspectiva cognitiva. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.Google Scholar
Domínguez, A., Cuetos, F., & de Vega, M. (1993). Efectos diferenciales de la frecuencia silábica posicional: dependencia del tipo de prueba y características de los estímulos. Estudios de Psicología, 50, 531.Google Scholar
Escribano, J.L. (1991). Programa UNICEN [UNICEN Software]. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.Google Scholar
Felton, R.H., & Wood, F.B. (1992). A reading level match study of nonword reading skills in poor readers with varying IQ. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 318326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forster, K.I., & Chambers, S.M. (1973). Lexical access and naming time. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12, 627635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frith, U. (1999) Paradoxes in the definition of dyslexia. Dyslexia: AnInternational Journal of Research and Practice, 5, 192214.3.0.CO;2-N>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frost, R., Katz, L., & Bentin, S. (1987). Strategies for visual word recognition and orthographical depth: A multidimensional comparison. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 13, 104115.Google Scholar
García-Albea, J.E., Sánchez-Casas, R.M., & Viso, S. del. (1982). Efectos de la frecuencia de uso en el reconocimiento de palabras. Investigaciones Psicológicas, 1, 2461.Google Scholar
Genard, N., Mousty, P., Content, A., Alegria, J., Leybaert, J., & Morais, J. (1998). Methods to establish subtypes of developmental dyslexia. In Reitsma, P. & Verhoeven, L. (Eds.), Problems and interventions in literacy development (pp. 163176). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grompone, M.A.C. (1975). Colonialismo y dislexia. In. de Quirós, J.B., Schrager, O., & Feldman, J. (Eds.), El lenguaje lectoescrito y sus problemas (pp. 7283). Buenos Aires: Panamericana.Google Scholar
Guzmán, R., & Jiménez, J.E. (2001). Estudio normativo sobre parámetros psicolingüísticos en niños de 6 a 8 años: la familiaridad subjetiva. Cognitiva, 13, 153191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, F.J. (2001). Subtypes of dyslexia in Chinese orthography. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. The University of New South Wales, Sidney, Australia.Google Scholar
Hynd, G.W., & Hynd, C.R. (1984). Dyslexia: Neuroanatomical/neurolinguistic perspectives. Reading Research Quarterly, 19,4, 482498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iribarren, I.C., Jarema, G., & Lecours, A.R. (1999). Lexical reading in Spanish: Two cases of phonological dyslexia. Applied Psycholinguistics, 20, 407428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiménez, J.E. (1997). A reading-level match study of phonemic processes underlying reading disabilities in a transparent orthography. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 9, 2340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiménez, J.E., & Hernández-Valle, I. (2000). Word identification and reading disorders in the Spanish language. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 4460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manis, F.R., Seidenberg, M.S., Doi, L.M., McBride-Chang, C., & Petersen, A. (1996). On the bases of two subtypes of developmental dyslexia. Cognition, 58, 157195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martínez, J.A. (1995). La dislexia evolutiva: un enfoque neuropsicológico. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, España.Google Scholar
Olson, R.K., Wise, B., Conners, F., Rack, J., & Fulker, D. (1989). Specific deficits in component reading and language skills: Genetic and environmental influences. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 339348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perfetti, C.A. (1986). Continuities in reading acquisition: Reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 1121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perfetti, C.A., Bell, L.C., & Delaney, S.M. (1988). Automatic (prelexical) phonetic activation in silent word reading: Evidence from backward masking. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 5970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruíz, A., Ansaldo, A.I., & Lecours, A.R. (1994). Two cases of deep dyslexia in unilingual hispanophone aphasics. Brain and Language, 46, 245256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuelson, S., Finnström, O., Leijon, I., & Mard, S. (2000). Phonological and surface profiles of reading difficulties among very low birth weight children: Converging evidence for the developmental lag hypothesis. Scientific Studies of Reading, 4, 197217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sebastián, N. (1991). Reading by analogy in a shallow orthography. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17, 471477.Google Scholar
Seidenberg, M.S. (1985). The time course of phonological code activation in two writing systems. Cognition, 19, 130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seidenberg, M.S., Waters, G.S., Barnes, M.A., & Tanenhaus, M.K. (1984). When does irregular spelling or pronunciation influence word recognition? Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 383404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, L.S. (1986). Phonological deficits in children with a reading disability. Canadian Journal of Special Education, 2, 4554.Google Scholar
Siegel, L.S. (1992). An evaluation of the discrepancy definition of dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 618629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegel, L.S., & Heaven, R. (1986). Categorization of learning disabilities. In Ceci, S.J. (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive, social, and neuropsychological aspects of learning disabilities (pp. 95123). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Siegel, L.S., Share, D., & Geva, E. (1995). Evidence for superior orthographic skills in dyslexics. Psychological Science, 6, 250254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Signorini, A. (1997). Word reading in Spanish: A comparison between skilled and less skilled beginning readers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 18, 319344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sprenger-Charolles, L., Colé, P., Lacert, P., & Serniclaes, W. (2000). On subtypes of developmental dyslexia: Evidence from processing time and accuracy scores. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54, 87103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanovich, K.E., & Siegel, L.S. (1994). Phenotypic performance profile of children with reading disabilities: A regression-based test of the phonological-core variable-difference model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 2453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K.E., Siegel, L.S., & Gottardo, A. (1997a). Progress in the search for dyslexia subtypes. In Hulme, C. & Snowling, M. (Eds.), Biology, cognition and intervention (pp. 108130). London: Whurr.Google Scholar
Stanovich, K.E., Siegel, L.S., & Gottardo, A. (1997b). Converging evidence for phonological and surface subtypes of reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 114127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tabossi, P. (1989, April). La lectura en un lenguaje con ortografía superficial: consideraciones teóricas y metodológicas. Paper presented at the V Simposio Escuelas de Logopedia y Psicología del Lenguaje, Salamanca, Spain.Google Scholar
Toro, J., & Cervera, M. (1980). Test de análisis de lectoescritura. Madrid: Visor.Google Scholar
Valle-Arroyo, F. (1996). Dual-route models in Spanish: Developmental and neuropsychological data. In Carreiras, M. & Sebastián, N. (Eds.), Language processing in Spanish (pp. 89118). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Wilding, J. (1989). Developmental dyslexics do not fit in boxes: Evidence from the case studies. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 1, 105127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wimmer, H. (1996). The nonword reading deficit in developmental dyslexia: Evidence from children learning to read German. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 61, 8090.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed