Research on visual and phonological coding in reading words for meaning is reviewed, and two studies are described that examined the word processing of skilled and less skilled elementary school readers. Findings revealed support for previous studies stressing the importance of the automatic nature of reading skills. (CL)

Based on the notion that visual decisions play an important role in what children recognize and interpret in books and that teachers have a special responsibility to help students become visually literate, this article draws parallels between visual and verbal concepts and suggests some activities for teaching "picture reading" skills in the…

Reading comprehension is influenced by external factors and factors within the reader. A discussion of these factors and of the LaBerge reading model provides the context for methods of diagnosing and remediating reading problems. (Author/BW)

A random sample and a sample of retarded readers were selected from fourth- and sixth-grade students in the Grand Prairie Independent School District. All students were tested in the areas of auditory perception, visual perception, and phonics abilities. The tests administered were: two subtests from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test; four…

Special equipment was used to record the eye movement patterns of 60 children enrolled in a reading clinic. There were 20 children in each of three groups: good readers, slow readers, and non-readers. The children were shown printed material on a screen accompanied by action sequences and voice recordings similar to what they might see on…

This paper reviews studies on cognitive processes that may mediate the development of early learning problems. Topics covered include auditory and visual discrimination deficits, integration of information from different modalities, the significance of attentional factors, contributions of memory factors, and the importance of cognitive style…

A study examined variables that affect the acquisition of automaticity of verbal skills. Among the variables examined were practice, novelty or familiarity of a word or word category, the speed and efficiency with which persons acquire automaticity, reaction time, and number of tasks performed concurrently. Subjects, 30 sixth and seventh grade…

Focusing on research about children's acquisition of reading and spelling skills, this paper discusses the larger picture of reading acquisition, issues addressed by research, and results of this research. The paper cites numerous studies on the subject, including studies on whether environmental print experiences enable young children to process…