The object of my recognition: The role of high-level vision in reading of 4th graders

Abstract

Impairments in visual recognition have been detected in adult dyslexic readers, and high-level visual regions appear to be hypoactive. Configural processes seem to be intact but featural processes impaired. The focus has mostly been on adults where vast differences in reading experience could influence the results. The object of this study was to establish whether there is a correlation between fourth graders’ performance on configural and featural visual processing tasks and their reading scores. We predicted that there would be a positive correlation between these measures, especially in the case of featural visual processing and reading ability. 20 children in the 4th grade took part in this study (10 girls and 10 boys), out of which four were excluded from analysis as they opted to quit during the visual task, were non-native Icelandic speakers, or had an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis which could be independently associated with face processing problems. Reading ability was estimated by two word lists, IS-FORM (common and uncommon words) and IS-PSEUDO (pseudowords). Visual recognition task was presented in a computer game and ADHD symptoms screened with the SWAN rating scale. The results do not provide strong support for the role of high-level visual processes in reading abilities, but ADHD symptoms explain almost half of its variation. Due to a small sample results must be interpreted with caution.