General cognitive ability is still a factor in current definitions of dyslexia despite two decades of research showing little or no relevance to the nature of dyslexia. This article suggests one reason why this may be so. The suggestion is based on a distinction between dyslexia as a disability (poor ability)--as it is viewed and explained by…

A cue-target visual attention task was administered to 25 children (ages 10-12) with dyslexia. Results showed a general pattern of slower responses in the children with dyslexia compared to controls. Subjects also had longer reaction times in the short and long cue-target interval conditions (covert and overt shift of attention). (Contains…