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We systematically assessed the relationships between growth of four components of verbal ability--Information, Similarities, Vocabulary, and Comprehension subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale-Revised--and longitudinal growth from Grades 1 to 9 of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery Passage Comprehension subtest while controlling for Word Identification and Word Attack, using multilevel growth models on a sample of 414 children. Growth was assessed over all grades (1-9), and separately for early grades (1-5) and later grades (5-9). Over all grades, growth in Word Identification had a substantial standardized loading to Passage Comprehension, and all four verbal abilities had smaller, but significant standardized loadings to Passage Comprehension (p < 0.05), with Information and Vocabulary having slightly higher loadings than Similarities and Comprehension. For early grades, results were similar to the overall results, with the exception of Vocabulary, which had a nonsignificant loading to Passage Comprehension. For later grades, Word Identification again had the largest, but substantially smaller standardized loading on Passage Comprehension and standardized loadings of all four verbal abilities were statistically significant with Vocabulary and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Comprehension having appreciably higher loadings than in the previous analyses. Conversation- and interaction-based intervention and instruction in oral language in general, and vocabulary in particular throughout early childhood and continuing throughout the school years, combined with evidence-based instruction that systematically develops the skills of phonologic awareness, decoding, word reading, fluency, and comprehension in school, may provide a pathway to reducing the achievement gap in reading.

Finds high correlations between word reading and nonword reading; and skill in word identification was almost inseparable from the phonologically analytic decoding process that is tapped by nonword reading. Notes differences in reading comprehension were closely associated with differences in decoding skill. (SC)

We systematically assessed the relationships between growth of four components of verbal ability—Information, Similarities, Vocabulary, and Comprehension subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale–Revised—and longitudinal growth from Grades 1 to 9 of the Woodcock–Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery Passage Comprehension subtest while controlling for Word Identification and Word Attack, using multilevel growth models on a sample of 414 children. Growth was assessed over all grades (1-9), and separately for early grades (1-5) and later grades (5-9). Over all grades, growth in Word Identification had a substantial standardized loading to Passage Comprehension, and all four verbal abilities had smaller, but significant standardized loadings to Passage Comprehension (p < .05), with Information and Vocabulary having slightly higher loadings than Similarities and Comprehension. For early grades, results were similar to the overall results, with the exception of Vocabulary, which had a nonsignificant loading to Passage Comprehension. For later grades, Word Identification again had the largest, but substantially smaller standardized loading on Passage Comprehension and standardized loadings of all four verbal abilities were statistically significant with Vocabulary and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Revised (WISC-R) Comprehension having appreciably higher loadings than in the previous analyses. Conversation- and interaction-based intervention and instruction in oral language in general, and vocabulary in particular throughout early childhood and continuing throughout the school years, combined with evidence-based instruction that systematically develops the skills of phonologic awareness, decoding, word reading, fluency, and comprehension in school, may provide a pathway to reducing the achievement gap in reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estudios recientes señalaron que el trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad (TDAH) se relaciona con anomalías de los ganglios basales y de la función cortical prefrontal. Sin embargo, estos estudios se basaron, fundamentalmente, en pruebas cognitivas que valoran más el control de los impulsos que los mecanismos de la atención. Método: Los autores utilizaron imágenes de resonancia magnética funcional para investigar los correlatos neurales de la atención selectiva y dividida en una prueba de provocación farmacológica aleatorizada, a doble ciego, contralada por placebo con metilfenidato en 15 adolescentes con TDAH (14-17 años), 8 adolescentes con trastorno de la lectura (12-17 años) y 4 adolescentes con trastorno de la lectura y TDAH (14-18 años) que fueron explorados durante una sesión en que recibieron metilfenidato y una sesión en que recibieron placebo. Catorce individuos sanos de control (12-20 años), no tratados con metilfenidato, fueron el principal grupo de control. Resultados: Durante la prueba de atención dividida, los individuos no medicados con TDAH o trastorno de la lectura activaron significativamente menos los ganglios basales ventrales del lado izquierdo que los individuos sanos de control. El metilfenidato favoreció la activación de dicha región, pero no repercutió en la realización de las tareas cognitivas. Los individuos con TDAH también activaron significativamente menos la circunvolución temporal media que los individuos de control, aunque el metilfenidatona tuvo un efecto directo sobre la activación de dicha región. Conclusiones: Estos resultados indican que el TDAH se relaciona con un procesamiento anómalo de los circuitos de atención, destacando la disfunción de los circuitos estriados. El metilfenidato podría desempeñar una función normalizadora de esta red neural. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

No abstract available for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]