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In this study, we investigated developmental aspects of eye movements during reading of three languages (English, German, and Finnish) that vary widely in their orthographic complexity and predictability. Grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules are rather complex in English and German but relatively simple in Finnish. Despite their differences in complexity, the rules in German and Finnish are highly predictable, whereas English has many exceptions. Comparing eye movement development in these three languages allows us to investigate whether orthographic complexity and predictability have separate effects on eye movement development. Three groups of children, matched on years of reading instruction, along with a group of proficient adult readers in each language were tested. All participants read stimulus materials that were carefully translated and back-translated across all three languages. The length and frequency of 48 target words were manipulated experimentally within the stimulus set. For children, word length effects were stronger in Finnish and German than in English. In addition, in English effects of word frequency were weaker and only present for short words. Generally, English children showed a qualitatively different reading pattern, while German and Finnish children's reading behavior was rather similar. These results indicate that the predictability of an orthographic system is more important than its complexity for children's reading development. Adults' reading behavior, in contrast, was remarkably similar across languages. Our results demonstrate that eye movements are sensitive to language-specific features in children's reading, but become more homogenous as reading skill matures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in reading and spelling. Despite lacking routine neuroimaging markers for dyslexia, recent resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) studies have detected atypical functional connectivity in children with dyslexia compared to controls. These methods are based on measures of EEG data at a sensor-level, but it remains unclear if routine clinical resting-state EEG can be used to detect source-level differences in power or functional connectivity (FC) between children with dyslexia and controls. It is also unknown if differences in these EEG metrics correlate with difficulties in reading and spelling. Methods: Using retrospective data, we investigated the source-reconstructed power and FC of 70 children with recently diagnosed dyslexia and 50 typically developing controls. We analyzed 50 seconds of awake resting-state routine clinical EEG in five frequency bands (1-29 Hz) using power, imaginary part of coherency (ImCoh), and weighted phase lag index (wPLI). Additionally, we calculated correlations between power or FC and IQ, reading, and spelling performance. Results: Children with dyslexia had a decrease in theta FC in left temporo-parieto-occipital regions and an increase in alpha FC in left fronto-temporo-parietal regions. A decrease of theta FC was observed for right parieto-occipital regions and an increase of alpha FC in right inferior fronto-temporal regions. Furthermore, children with dyslexia demonstrated lower power in delta and theta within the left parieto-occipital regions. An age-stratified sub-analysis indicated that children with dyslexia in 5th-8th school grades exhibit greater alpha FC mainly in left fronto-temporo-parietal regions. Finally, lower scores in spelling showed a positive and significant association to theta power within left parieto-occipital regions in dyslexia. Conclusions: Significant group differences in power and FC in the theta-alpha range in left cortical language and visual regions, as well as in multiple resting-state networks (RSNs), suggest abnormal oscillations as a pathophysiological sign of dyslexia reading and spelling deficits. These findings demonstrate the potential of source-reconstructed clinical routine EEG data to inform clinicians about brain network alterations in neurodevelopmental disorders such as dyslexia.

Successful reading comprehension—especially in a second language (L2)—relies on the ability to monitor one’s comprehension, that is, to notice comprehension breaks and make repairs. Comprehension monitoring may be limited given effortful word processing but may also be supported through active reading. The current study addresses to what extent word processing difficulty reduces adolescents’ ability to monitor their comprehension in their L2, and whether readers can compensate limitations given sufficient executive control. We conducted an eye-tracking experiment in which 34 adolescent L2 learners (aged 13–17 years) read short expository texts containing two within-subject manipulations. First, comprehension monitoring was tested through inconsistencies, for example, when the topic changed from Spanish to Russian vis-à-vis consistent controls. Second, word processing difficulty was altered by inserting either shorter and higher-frequency words such as want, or longer and lower-frequency words such as prefer. We additionally measured participants’ executive control. Outcome variables were reading times on the whole texts and the words manipulated for inconsistency and word processing difficulty. We found evidence of successful moment-to-moment monitoring, as visible in adolescents’ increased rereading of inconsistent compared to consistent information. We also found that adolescents adapted their monitoring differently to word processing difficulty, depending on their executive control: while adolescents with weaker control reduced their monitoring given higher word processing difficulty, adolescents with stronger control monitored their comprehension more (instead of less) on difficult texts. These findings provide insights into how L2 comprehension monitoring arises in the interplay of lower-level processing load and active reading processes.

This article presents the ENglish Reading Online (ENRO) project that offers data on English reading and listening comprehension from 7,338 university-level advanced learners and native speakers of English representing 19 countries. The database also includes estimates of reading rate and seven component skills of English, including vocabulary, spelling, and grammar, as well as rich demographic and language background data. We first demonstrate high reliability for ENRO tests and their convergent validity with existing meta-analyses. We then provide a bird's-eye view of first (L1) and second (L2) language comparisons and examine the relative role of various predictors of reading and listening comprehension and reading speed. Across analyses, we found substantially more overlap than differences between L1 and L2 speakers, suggesting that English reading proficiency is best considered across a continuum of skill, ability, and experiences spanning L1 and L2 speakers alike. We end by providing pointers for how researchers can mine ENRO data for future studies.

Vocabulary knowledge is one of the most important elements of reading comprehension. Text coverage is the proportion of known words in a given text. We hypothesize that text comprehension increases exponentially with text coverage due to network effects and activation of prior knowledge. In addition, the lexical threshold hypothesis states that text comprehension increases faster above a certain amount of text coverage. The exponential relationship between text coverage and text comprehension, as well as the lexical threshold, are at the heart of text comprehension theory and are of great interest for optimizing language instruction. In this study, we first used vocabulary knowledge to estimate text coverage based on test scores from N = 924 German fourth graders. Second, we compared linear with non-linear models of text coverage and vocabulary knowledge to explain text comprehension. Third, we used a broken-line regression to estimate a lexical threshold. The results showed an exponential relationship between text coverage and text comprehension. Moreover, text coverage explained text comprehension better than vocabulary knowledge, and text comprehension increased more quickly above 56% text coverage. From an instructional perspective, the results suggest that reading activities with text coverage below 56% are too difficult for readers and likely inappropriate for instructional purposes. Further applications of the results, such as for standard setting and readability analyses, are discussed.

When analyzing eye movement data from the reading of multi-line texts, it is important to ensure that fixations are assigned correctly to the lines of the text. This is a non-trivial problem as eye movement data are noisy and often show complex non-linear distortions. Here, we introduced Slice, a new algorithm to assign fixations in multi-line text. We describe how Slice operates and evaluate it using a data set of natural reading data. Results show that Slice performs better than the default method used by many software packages, is robust to many forms of distortions, and approximates manual coding decisions.

This study examined the cognitive processes involved in reading vertically and horizontally mirrored text. We tracked participants’ eye movements while they were reading the Potsdam Sentence Corpus which consists of 144 sentences with target words that are manipulated for length and frequency. Sentences were presented in three different conditions: In the normal condition, text was presented with upright letters, in the vertical condition, each letter was flipped around its vertical (left-right) axis while in the horizontal condition, letters were flipped around their horizontal (up-down) axis. Results show that reading was slowed down in both mirror conditions and that horizontal mirroring was particularly disruptive. In both conditions, we found larger effects of word length than in the normal condition indicating that participants read the sentences more serially and effortfully. Similarly, frequency effects were larger in both mirror conditions in later reading measures (gaze duration, go-past time, and total reading time) and particularly pronounced in the horizontal condition. This indicates that reading mirrored script involves a late checking mechanism that is particularly important for reading a horizontally mirrored script. Together, our findings demonstrate that mirroring affects both early visual identification and later linguistic processes.

This experiment investigated interactions between lower- and higher-level processing when reading in a second language (L2). We conducted an eye-tracking experiment with the within-subject manipula...

In this study, we investigated the effects of double-letter processing on handwriting production in beginning and skilled writers of German. One hundred and thirty-seven children from Grades 2 and 3 and 31 adult participants were asked to copy words with double consonants (e.g., “Kanne”) and matched words without double consonants (e.g., “Kante”) from a computer screen onto a pen tablet, while their handwriting was recorded with high spatio-temporal resolution. Handwriting productions were analysed in terms of Reading Duration, Writing Onset Duration, and Letter Duration at the letter positions preceding or forming the onset of the corresponding consonant clusters. Our results showed that second graders take less time to initiate writing words with double consonants than words without double consonants, while both second and third graders take less time to read words with double consonants than words without double consonants. Critically, although second and third graders write down a letter faster when it corresponds to the first letter of a double-letter unit than a consonant cluster, it is the other way around for adults. We interpret these findings within extant theories of handwriting production and offer an explanation for the different nature of the effects observed in beginning and skilled writers.

Masked priming studies have shown that readers decompose morphologically complex words (read+er). Interindividual differences have been suggested to affect this phenomenon. However, its development...

Reading a word requires several component processes. The dual route cascaded (DRC) model provides a characterization of these component processes and their involvement in different reading routes. We tested how relevant precursor skills associated with these component processes predict the use of the sublexical and lexical route in beginning readers of a transparent orthography. More than 100 German first graders performed a battery of tasks tapping into precursor skills associated with the DRC components. Using factor analysis, we first verified that the tasks can be attributed to three sets of skills, capturing visual, sublexical, and lexico-semantic components, as the DRC suggests. We then used these sets of skills to predict differences in the reliance on sublexical and lexical reading in second grade as indicated by length and frequency effects. Results show that the set of sublexical skills in first grade especially predicts differences in the recognition of long frequent words at the end of second grade, whereas the set of lexico-semantic skills predicts differences in the reading of long infrequent words. The findings corroborate the attribution of specific precursor skills to the sublexical and lexical route and reveal their distinct impact on sublexical and lexical reading in beginning readers. The work thus empirically informs the developmental version of the DRC, especially regarding variability in trajectories of reading acquisition.

In this study, we investigated effects of morphological processing on handwriting production in beginning writers of German. Children from Grades 3 and 4 were asked to copy words from a computer screen onto a pen tablet, while we recorded their handwriting with high spatiotemporal resolution. Words involved a syllable-congruent visual disruption (e.g., “Golfer”), a morpheme-congruent visual disruption (e.g., “Golfer”), or had no disruption (e.g., “Golfer”). We analyzed productions in terms of Writing Onset Duration and Letter Duration at the onset of the second syllable (“f” in “Gol.fer”) and the onset of the suffix (“e” in “Golf_er”). Results showed that durations were longer at word-writing onset only for words with a morpheme-congruent visual disruption. Also, letter durations were longer at the onset of the second syllable (i.e., “-fer”) and shorter at the onset of the suffix (i.e., “-er”) only for words with a syllable-congruent visual disruption. We interpret these findings within extant theories of handwriting production and offer an explanation for the observed effects before and during trajectory formation.

We conducted two masked priming experiments to examine how the orthographic system processes words with mirrored letters. In both experiments, four different primes were used: an identity prime, an unrelated control prime, and two mirror-primes in which letters were either mirrored at their vertical or horizontal axis. Task was varied between experiments: In Experiment 1, we used a lexical decision task, and in Experiment 2, we used a cross-case same–different match task. We expected to see priming effects in both mirror-conditions with stronger effects in the vertically than in the horizontally mirrored letters. In the lexical decision task, we observed only vertical priming effects for words, whereas in the same–different task, priming effects were present in both mirror-conditions and for both words and non-words. We discuss the implications of our findings for extant models of orthographic processing.

Reading development involves several changes in orthographic processing. A key question is, "how does the coding of letters develops in children learning to read?" Masked priming effects of transposition and substitution primes have been taken to index the importance of letter position and identity coding. Somewhat contradicting results for developing readers have led to opposing theories. Here, we present new evidence from a large longitudinal study with over 100 children from grade 2 to 4. We investigate three different issues concerning transposition and substitution priming: (a) comparing priming both against an all-different and an identity baseline, (b) testing priming effects for nonword targets, and (c) taking into account interindividual differences in orthographic knowledge. The analyses of the longitudinal data show, respectively, (a) an increase of priming effects over development in comparison to both baselines, (b) identity priming for nonword targets in the elementary school years, and (c) an additional impact of orthographic knowledge on priming effects for word, but not nonword, targets that is similar to the effect of grade. Taken together, our examination suggests that letter identity is coded relatively strictly, whereas letter position is coded relatively flexibly already early in reading development for words, but not for nonwords. We discuss how this pattern fits with different developmental models of orthographic processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

International audience; Empirical evidence from masked priming research shows that skilled readers can rapidly identify morphological structure in written language. However, comparatively little is known about how and when this skill is acquired in children. The present work investigates the developmental trajectory of morphological processing in a two-year longitudinal study that involves two large cohorts of German and French primary school children. The masked priming paradigm was used within an experimental design that allowed us to dissociate effects of (i) non-morphological embedded word activation, (ii) morpho-orthographic decomposition, and (iii) morpho-semantics. Four priming conditions were used: affixed word (farmer-FARM), affixed nonword (farmity-FARM), non-affixed nonword (farmald-FARM), and unrelated control (workald-FARM). The results revealed robust embedded word priming effects across both languages. However, morphoorthographic and morpho-semantic effects were only evident in the French sample. These findings are discussed in the context of a theoretical framework that specifies the distinct roles played by embedded words and affixes, their distinct developmental trajectories, and how the intrinsic linguistic properties of a given language may impact on morphological processing.

Successful reading comprehension – especially in a second language (L2) – relies on the ability to monitor one’s comprehension, that is, to notice comprehension breaks and make repairs. Comprehension monitoring may be limited given effortful word processing but may also be supported through active reading. The current study addresses to what extent word processing difficulty reduces adolescents’ ability to monitor their comprehension in their L2, and whether readers can compensate limitations given sufficient executive control. We conducted an eye-tracking experiment in which 34 adolescent L2 learners (aged 13–17 years) read short expository texts containing two within-subject manipulations. First, comprehension monitoring was tested through inconsistencies, for example, when the topic changed from Spanish to Russian vis-à-vis consistent controls. Second, word processing difficulty was altered by inserting either shorter and higher-frequency words such as want, or longer and lower-frequency words such as prefer. We additionally measured participants’ executive control. Outcome variables were reading times on the whole texts and the words manipulated for inconsistency and word processing difficulty. We found evidence of successful moment-to-moment monitoring, as visible in adolescents’ increased rereading of inconsistent compared to consistent information. We also found that adolescents adapted their monitoring differently to word processing difficulty, depending on their executive control: while adolescents with weaker control reduced their monitoring given higher word processing difficulty, adolescents with stronger control monitored their comprehension more (instead of less) on difficult texts. These findings provide insights into how L2 comprehension monitoring arises in the interplay of lower-level processing load and active reading processes.

Syllables are thought to be processing units in handwritten word production. Yet, little is known about whether the orthographic characteristics of different languages influence syllabic processing during handwriting, which is critical for the evaluation and further development of extant models of handwritten language production. In the present study, we manipulated syllabic ambiguity, a characteristic of the German language, to investigate the role of syllables in handwritten word production in German. Forty-four 10 to 12-year-old children and fourteen adults were asked to write on pen tablets five-letter disyllabic words that varied in terms of their syllabic ambiguity, while their handwriting was recorded with high spatiotemporal resolution. Productions were analyzed in terms of Mean Stroke Duration (MSD) and Writing Onset Duration (WOD). Increased MSD at syllable boundaries was observed across conditions for both children and adults. There was no difference in WOD across conditions. Our findings offer support for the idea that syllables are functional units in handwriting production in German and motivate the further development of the spelling module in models of handwritten language production.

Children struggle with the resolution of pronouns during reading, but little is known about the sources of their difficulties. We conducted a longitudinal eye tracking experiment with 70 ch...

Current models of morphological processing differ in their assumptions about the recognition of compound words. The relative contribution of the first and second constituent and the whole-word remains unsolved. Particularly for beginning readers, the first constituent might have a privileged role attributable to more sequential decoding strategies. In a series of lexical decision experiments, the influence of constituent and whole-word frequencies on compound recognition was examined in German developing readers as well as adults. Results showed that whole-word and first constituent frequency interactively influenced response times in children. For adults, an effect of whole-word frequency only was obtained for the children's stimuli set, and noninteracting effects of whole-word frequency and first constituent frequency were found when using adult frequency measures. Together, the results suggest that developing readers already decompose compounds and that hybrid interactive models of morphological processing are most suitable to explain compound recognition across development. The applicability of amorphous models is also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Zusammenfassung. In dem vorliegenden Artikel wird der Wortschatztest WOR-TE für deutsche Grundschulkinder vorgestellt. Der Test basiert auf der Ja / Nein-Methode, bei der die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer aus einer Liste von Wörtern und Pseudowörtern diejenigen ankreuzen sollen, die sie kennen. Er wurde für verschiedene Altersgruppen (1./2. Klasse, 3./4. Klasse, 5./6. Klasse) konzipiert und Item-Response-Theory-basiert mit dem Rasch-Modell validiert. Anhand des Validitätskonzepts nach Messick (1995) wurden verschiedene Aspekte von Konstruktvalidität untersucht: Inhaltliche Aspekte, Relevanz, Repräsentativität, Technische Qualität, substantielle Aspekte, Generalisierbarkeit und externe Aspekte. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Test ein valides Instrument zur Erfassung des orthographischen Wortschatzes im Grundschulalter darstellt und durch kleine Veränderungen, insbesondere in Bezug auf die Item-Auswahl, profitieren würde. Möglichkeiten des Einsatzes sowie Einschränkungen des Verfahrens werden diskutiert, ebenso wie die Verwendung des Validitätskonzeptes mit IRT für Ja / Nein-Test im Allgemeinen.

International audience; The present study examined cross-linguistic differences in morphological processing in the visual and auditory modality. French and German adults performed a visual and auditory lexical decision task that involved the same translation-equivalent items. The focus of the study was on nonwords, which were constructed in a way that the independent role of stems and suffixes in visual and auditory processing could be investigated. Results revealed a stem-by-modality and a suffix-by-modality interaction, indicating a more prominent role for morphology in the visual than in the auditory domain. Moreover, a significant language-by-stem interaction indicated more robust morphological processing in German than in French. The latter result supports the idea that morphological processing is influenced by the morphological productivity of a language.

International audience; The present study investigated whether morphological processing in reading is influenced by the orthographic consistency of a language or its morphological complexity. Developing readers in Grade 3 and skilled adult readers participated in a reading aloud task in four alphabetic orthographies (English, French, German, Italian), which differ in terms of both orthographic consistency and morphological complexity. English is the least consistent, in terms of its spelling‐to‐sound relationships, as well as the most morphologically sparse, compared to the other three. Two opposing hypotheses were formulated. If orthographic consistency modulated the use of morphology in reading, readers of English should show more robust morphological processing than readers of the other three languages, because morphological units increase the reliability of spelling‐to‐sound mappings in the English language. In contrast, if the use of morphology in reading depended on the morphological complexity of a language, readers of French, German, and Italian should process morphological units in printed letter strings more efficiently than readers of English. Both developing and skilled readers of English showed greater morphological processing than readers of the other three languages. These results support the idea that the orthographic consistency of a language, rather than its morphological complexity, influences the extent to which morphology is used during reading. We explain our findings within the remit of extant theories of reading acquisition and outline their theoretical and educational implications

Leisure reading is a main contributor to print exposure, which is in turn related to individual differences in reading and language skills. The Author Recognition Test (ART) is a brief and objective measure of print exposure that has been used in reading research since the 1990s. Life span studies have reported contradicting results concerning age differences in print exposure, possibly due to the use of ART versions that differed regarding authors’ mean publication year. We investigated effects of participant age and authors’ mean publication year, literary level, and circulation frequency on author recognition probability between adolescence and old age (N = 339; age 13–77 years). An explanatory item response analysis showed that participant age and circulation frequency were positively related to recognition probability. Mean publication year was negatively related to recognition probability, indicating that recent authors who have been widely read for only a few years were less often recognized than classic authors who have been widely read for several decades. The relation between participant age and recognition probability was moderated by author variables. For classic authors, the recognition probability increased between adolescence and old age. By contrast, for recent authors, the recognition probability increased only between adolescence and middle age. Our results suggest that the mean publication year is a key author variable for the detection of print exposure differences between young, middle-aged and older adults. We discuss implications for author selection when updating the ART and for measuring print exposure in age-diverse samples.

Shared reading has the potential to promote a wide range of language skills that are important for reading acquisition. Dialogic reading interventions in preschool facilitate the acquisition of vocabulary and narrative production skills, but it is unclear (a) whether dialogic reading can also foster inferential and literal narrative comprehension and (b) whether intervention effects are maintained until the beginning of formal reading instruction. To close these two gaps, we designed and conducted a low-dose narrative dialogic reading intervention with wordless picture books. On the child care center level, 201 German preschoolers (Mage = 5;5 years) were randomly assigned to the dialogic reading group, an alternative treatment group, or a no treatment group. Hierarchical linear models showed positive effects of dialogic reading on inferential and literal narrative comprehension and on vocabulary depth and breadth. The effect on inferential narrative comprehension was maintained five months after posttest. Overall, our findings indicate that even a small amount of narrative dialogic reading has small, albeit mostly short-term effects on narrative comprehension and vocabulary skills. We conclude that narrative dialogic reading is a promising approach for supporting the development of preschoolers’ inferential skills. Long-term intervention studies are needed for the evaluation of long-term effects.

Studien zu Transfereffekten auf die Personlichkeit bilden einen komplexen Teilbereich innerhalb der Forschung zur Kulturellen Bildung. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir eine Sichtung und Strukturierung dieses Forschungsfeldes vor, welches drei Dimensionen unterscheidet: Kulturelle Sparten, Transfervariablen und Methoden. Durch Einordnung bisheriger Studien in diese dreidimensionale Matrix werden Forschungslucken identifiziert, die durch neue Studien geschlossen werden sollten. In einer Literaturrecherche von Studien mit einem Pra-Post-Design mit Kontrollgruppe wurden 21 Studien mit insgesamt 56 Befunden identifiziert. Dabei zeigt sich, dass in den Sparten Musik und Theater mehr Befunde existieren als in anderen Sparten Kultureller Bildung. Desgleichen sind die Merkmale Intelligenz, Selbstkonzept sowie soziale und emotionale Fahigkeiten starker durch Studien abgedeckt als andere Personlichkeitsbereiche. (Quasi-)experimentelle Untersuchungsdesigns dominieren das Forschungsfeld, wahrend langsschnittliche Befunde unterreprasentiert sind. Wir diskutieren den Forschungsuberblick und leiten Empfehlungen fur zukunftige Studien ab.

German verb stems may be combined with a particle or a prefix, forming particle and prefixed verbs, respectively. Both types of verbs are morphologically complex, yet particles are free morphemes, which are routinely separated from their stem and can stand alone in a sentence, whereas prefixes are bound morphemes, which are attached to their stem and cannot stand alone in a sentence. Morphologically complex words are thought to be segmented into their constituent morphemes during reading. On this assumption, we took advantage of the separability feature of the constituent morphemes of particle verbs to investigate how the segmentation process occurs in skilled reading. Thirty German adults participated in a sentence-reading task that employed the eye-contingent boundary paradigm in eye-tracking. We observed no differences in the processing of particle and prefixed verbs, which suggests that idiosyncratic linguistic characteristics do not modulate the way morphologically complex words are segmented in skilled reading.

This experiment investigated interactions between lower- and higher-level processing when reading in a second language (L2). We conducted an eye-tracking experiment with the within-subject manipulation inconsistency (to tap higher-level coherence-building) crossed with a within-subject manipulation of word processing difficulty (to alter the ease of lower-level processing), both manipulated on the text level. Sixty-three L2 learners read 48 short expository texts containing inconsistencies created through mismatches between pre-targets such as soya and targets such as corn, or consistent controls. Word processing difficulty was manipulated by inserting either shorter and higher-frequency words such as often, or longer and lower-frequency words such as increasingly. We found evidence of interactions between lower-level word processing difficulty and higher-level coherence-building, as revealed by reduced inconsistency go-past durations and rereading in the difficult condition. This effect did not, however, extend to targeted regressions into inconsistent information. Our findings provide first experimental evidence for online interactions between lower-level word processing and higher-level coherence-building.

The development of preschoolers’ language skills is influenced by literacy environments and individual differences in storybook exposure. Extant research is limited as most studies (a) investigate the effects on lower level language (LLL; e.g., vocabulary, grammar), but not the effects on higher level language (HLL; e.g., comprehension monitoring, narrative comprehension), and (b) focus on shared reading in the home literacy environment (HLE), but not on the child care literacy environment (CCLE) and the child as active literacy agent. We addressed these two gaps. First, we investigated the contributions of the HLE and the CCLE to the storybook exposure of 201 German preschoolers (MAge = 5; 5 years). A multilevel model showed that parents’ storybook exposure was the most important predictor of children’s storybook exposure. By contrast, child care workers’ storybook exposure was not a significant predictor. Second, we explored the unique contributions of HLE, CCLE, and preschoolers’ storybook exposure to LLL and HLL skills. Multilevel models showed that children’s storybook exposure explained unique variance not only in LLL skills, but also in HLL skills. Literacy environments explained additional variance in LLL skills. In sum, our results suggest that literacy environments are differentially related to children’s storybook exposure and language skills. Our finding that children’s storybook exposure was a unique predictor of vocabulary, grammar, comprehension monitoring, and narrative comprehension indicates that shared book reading has the potential to foster a range of early literacy skills which predict reading comprehension.

In this study, we investigated the baseword frequency effect in children and its implications for models of visual word recognition. The baseword frequency effect reflects the finding that response latencies in the lexical decision task to nonwords derived from high-frequency basewords (e.g., GREAN derived from GREEN) are shorter than for those derived from low-frequency basewords (e.g., SLEAT derived from SLEET). Importantly, the baseword frequency effect presents a challenge to current activation-based models of visual word recognition. One explanation for this effect is that the orthographic representations of high-frequency basewords are easier to access. This allows a quick progression to a verification stage in which the exact spelling of a stimulus is checked, upon which the lexicality decision is then based. The main goal of this study was to investigate whether such a verification mechanism is specifically modulated by the quality of the orthographic lexicon. We tested whether the baseword frequency effect was evident in children’s lexical decisions to pseudohomophones (PsH) and whether verification accuracy varied as a function of children’s orthographic knowledge. The baseword frequency effect in response latency was observed in both German-speaking adults and children. Children’s spelling skills significantly influenced the accuracy of the verification stage in their responses to PsH. These findings imply that verification is an integral part of word reading and thus should be included in computational models of visual word recognition. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.3758/s13423-017-1424-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Investigating the impact of linguistic characteristics on visual word recognition in children, we studied whether differences in native (L1) and second language (L2) processing already emerge at the beginning of reading development. German elementary school students in grades 2 to 6 completed a battery of standardized tests and a lexical decision task (LDT). Though L1 speakers outperformed L2 speakers on German skills, groups did not differ in their overall performance on the LDT. However, results from mixed-effect models revealed greater effects for word frequency and length in L2 over L1 speakers, indicating qualitative differences in the sensitivity to linguistic information between groups. This distinction persisted across all grades and after controlling for differences in vocabulary size and reading fluency. Findings extend evidence provided for adult L2 processing, suggesting that varying language exposure shapes the development of the word-recognition system already in the early stages of reading development.

Zusammenfassung. Studien haben gezeigt, dass bereits im Vorschulalter ein positiver Zusammenhang zwischen Lesevolumen und Sprachentwicklung besteht. Eine objektive und ökonomische Methode zur Erfassung des Lesevolumens sind Titelrekognitionstests. Hierbei geben die Teilnehmenden für eine Reihe von Buchtiteln an, ob ihnen diese bekannt sind. Um Ratetendenzen zu minimieren, enthält der Test auch fiktive Buchtitel. Wir beschreiben die Entwicklung des Titelrekognitionstests für das Vorschulalter (TRT-VS) und stellen anhand von 2 Validierungsstudien seine psychometrischen Eigenschaften vor. In Studie 1 untersuchen wir seine Reliabilität sowie Personen- und Itemkennwerte in einer Stichprobe von Kindern und jungen Erwachsenen. Studie 2 analysiert den Zusammenhang zwischen TRT-VS, häuslicher Lernumgebung und Vorläuferfertigkeiten des Lesens in einer Stichprobe von Vorschulkindern und deren Eltern. Die Studien belegen, dass der TRT-VS ein reliables Instrument zur Messung früher Leseerfahrungen ist und eine hohe Konstruktvalidität aufweist.

The developmental trajectory of the use of morphemes is still unclear. We investigated the emergence of morphological effects on visual word recognition in German in a large sample across the complete course of reading acquisition in elementary school. To this end, we analyzed lexical decision data on a total of 1,152 words and pseudowords from a large cross-sectional sample of German children from the beginning of Grade 2 through 6, and a group of adults. We expand earlier evidence by (a) explicitly investigating processing differences between compounds, prefixes and suffixes, (b) taking into account vocabulary knowledge as an indicator for interindividual differences. Results imply that readers of German are sensitive to morphology in very early stages of reading acquisition with trajectories depending on morphological type and vocabulary knowledge. Facilitation from compound structure comes early in development, followed by facilitation from suffixes and prefixes later on in development. This indicates that stems and different types of affixes involve distinct processing mechanisms in beginning readers. Furthermore, children with higher vocabulary knowledge benefit earlier in development and to a greater extent from morphology. Our results specify the development and functional role of morphemes as reading units. (PsycINFO Database Record

Background German children do not formally learn letter-sounds before school entry. In this study, we evaluated kindergarten children's sensitivity to the frequency of letters and visually similar symbols in child-directed texts, how it develops and whether it predicts early reading abilities. Method In a longitudinal study from kindergarten to primary school, children were asked to judge whether a presented alphabetic (e.g., A) or non-alphabetic symbol (e.g., #) was a letter. High and low frequency was varied for both types of symbols. Furthermore, we analysed whether later reading abilities were predicted by this letter judgement ability. Results Before school entry, children had difficulties in distinguishing frequent non-alphabetic symbols from letters. Furthermore, letter judgement in kindergarten predicted reading abilities in first grade. Conclusions Children derive some knowledge about letters from the frequency of co-occurrence of letters and symbols in texts. The ability to distinguish letters from non-alphabetic symbols predicts early reading.

The present study investigated the development and training of music competencies in children in transition from kindergarten to school. In an intervention study with three experimental groups (music training, language training, no training) we investigated music performances of N = 202 5-year-old children before and after a period of 6 months. Results indicate substantial improvement in several low- and high-level musical competencies independent of children’s participation in one of the training groups. In addition, the music training group improved significantly more in their tonal discrimination, rhythm repetition, and synchronization skills compared to the no-training group. Results show that children in the language training group also improved in their music skills, which indicates noticeable overlap between these two domains. By contrast, interindividual differences in potentially relevant environmental factors, such as home musical environment and their socioeconomic status, did not affect children’s musical skills. By disentangling music training effects from musical experience based on informal exposure, the present findings contribute to the understanding of the development of various music competencies and to the effects of musical trainings in preschool.

Thematic relations are important semantic features in the young child's lexicon. So far, it is unclear how the ability to distinguish different strengths of thematic relations develops, whether this ability depends on specific word characteristics (homonyms), and whether it is linked to reading acquisition. In this longitudinal study, 62 children were asked to judge which of two words (i.e., thunder, fire) matched a presented context sentence (i.e., Miriam sees the lightning.) in a thematic judgment task. The strength of the thematic relation of the distractors to the target sentence (associated, unrelated) and types of context words (homonyms, non-homonyms) were varied. Children's performance was more accurate and developed faster in the unrelated than in the association condition. Furthermore, children were more accurate in homonym compared to non-homonym responses. Moreover, children's thematic judgment abilities predicted their later reading skill over other important precursor abilities of reading, including listening comprehension. (DIPF/Orig.)

Phonological similarity effects are biases to judge words as phonologically similar (i.e., rhyming), even if they are not. First found in rime awareness tasks in preliterates, these biases have recently also been found in proficient adult readers. In this study, we evaluated underlying phonological processing in rime judgment longitudinally, across literacy development. To this end, we created a new rime judgment task (rime; i.e., /t∙aɪ̯∙l/ - /z∙aɪ̯∙l/) with two distractor conditions that varied in size of phonological overlap (body; i.e., /t∙aɪ̯∙l/ - /t∙aɪ̯ ç/; nucleus; i.e., /t∙aɪ̯∙l/ - /r∙aɪ̯∙s/). The task was administered to a group of 61 German-speaking children at four time points across school entry and to 21 adults. Accuracy and latency responses were recorded. Results indicated that children and adults showed phonological similarity effects but the effect decreased gradually over time. However, preliterate children were more sensitive to large compared to small phonological overlap, while the same effect was significantly smaller in literate children and adults. Results suggest that preliterate children are more sensitive to larger grain sizes and become more sensitive to fine-grained units across literacy development. The findings are in line with the assumptions of the psycholinguistic grain size theory.

Although it is well established that beginning readers rely heavily on phonological decoding, the overlap of the phonological pathways used in visual and auditory word recognition is not clear. Especially in transparent languages, phonological reading could use the same pathways as spoken word processing. In the present study, we report a direct comparison of lexical decision performance in the visual and auditory modality in beginning readers of a transparent language. Using lexical decision, we examine how marker effects of length and frequency differ in the two modalities and how these differences are modulated by reading ability. The results show that both frequency and length effects are stronger in the visual modality, and the differences in length effects between modalities are more pronounced for poorer readers than for better readers. This suggests that visual word recognition in beginning readers of a transparent language initially is based on phonological decoding and subsequent matching in the phonological lexicon, especially for poor readers. However, some orthographic processing seems to be involved already. We claim that the relative contribution of the phonological and orthographic route in beginning readers can be measured by the differences in marker effects between auditory and visual lexical decision.

Background In Germany, there is a substantial gap in reading literacy between monolingual children and their L2-speaking peers. Nevertheless, it is still unclear where these performance differences are rooted. Methods We investigated children of grades 5, 6 and 7 with comparable socio-economic status, who completed a battery of tests assessing their linguistic and executive functioning skills as well as their reading performance on the letter, word, sentence and text level. Results Whereas L1 speakers showed better linguistic skills, there was no difference between groups in executive functioning. After controlling for individual differences on each level of reading, groups only differed in text comprehension. This effect, however, disappeared when participants' linguistic skills were additionally controlled. Conclusions In sum, results show that reading problems in L2 speakers cannot be attributed to deficits on specific component processes of reading, but to a lack of linguistic skills, which negatively affects reading comprehension.

Research on morphological processing has been mainly conducted in the single-word reading domain using the lexical-decision task. Similar research in the sentence reading domain has been conducted using eye-tracking techniques, yet the experimental paradigms used in each domain are not directly comparable. In the present study, we investigated morphological processing in single-word reading using the masked priming paradigm (Experiments 1a, 1b, 3), and in sentence reading using the fast priming paradigm in eye tracking (Experiment 2). The study was conducted in German using the same prefixed and suffixed items in both tasks. All experiments yielded an identical pattern of results, indicating early processing of the embedded stems, independently of whether these stems were combined with a prefix, a suffix, or a nonmorphological letter sequence. We interpret our findings in relation to previous results in the literature and discuss their implications for reading research both in the single-word and sentence-reading domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

We report data from an eye tracking experiment on the repeated name penalty effect in 9-year-old children and young adults. The repeated name penalty effect is informative for the study of children’s reading because it allows conclusions about children’s ability to direct attention to discourse-level processing cues during reading. We presented children and adults simple three-sentence stories with a single referent, which was referred to by an anaphor—either a pronoun or a repeated name—downstream in the text. The anaphor was either near or far from the antecedent. We found a repeated name penalty effect in early processing for children as well as adults, suggesting that beginning readers are already susceptible to discourse-level expectations of anaphora during reading. Furthermore, children’s reading was more influenced by the distance of anaphor and antecedent than adults’, which we attribute to differences in reading fluency and the resulting cognitive load during reading.