Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have long searched for patterning in the development of linguistic elements (e.g., grammar and morphology). However, little attention has been given to the examination of systematicity in vocabulary acquisition, limiting our understanding about how overall vocabulary is learnt. The current study…

To investigate the neural basis of a common statistical learning mechanism involved in motor sequence learning and decoding, we recorded brain activation from participants during a serial reaction time (SRT) task and a word reading task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In the SRT task, a manual response was made depending on the…

Learning the structure of event sequences is a ubiquitous problem in cognition and particularly in language. One possible solution is to learn a probabilistic generative model of sequences that allows making predictions about upcoming events. Though appealing from a neurobiological standpoint, this approach is typically not pursued in…

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling abilities. The absence of other high level cognitive deficits in the dyslexic population has led some authors to propose that non-strategical processes like implicit learning could be impaired in this…

The acquisition of reading skills is known to rely on early phonological abilities, but only a few studies have investigated the independent contribution of the different steps involved in phonological processing. This 1-year longitudinal study, spanning the initial year of reading instruction, aimed at specifying the development of phonological…

Sequential control over routine action is widely assumed to be controlled by stable, highly practiced representations. Our findings demonstrate that the processes controlling routine actions in the domain of skilled typing can be flexibly manipulated by memory processes coding recent experience with typing particular words and letters. In two…

Half the subjects were trained to use a serial rehearsal strategy during target set storage and half were given no strategy training. The results indicate that the rate of memory search is IQ-related, and that serial rehearsal training facilitates memory search when rehearsal is covert. (Author/BW)

The study examined relationships between two modes of information processing, simultaneous and sequential, and two sets of reading skills, word recognition and comprehension, among 40 second and third grade students. Results indicated there is a relationship between simultaneous processing and reading comprehension. (Author)

Each of two experimenters taught one set of 32 prekindergarteners to discriminate four different letter combinations (R-P, Y-V, C-G, and K-X). Each set of children was randomly selected and assigned to two treatment conditions. The treatment consisted of three warm-up trials, 10 actual training trials, and four post-test trials on a…

A. Pollatsek, E. D. Reichle, and K. Rayner argue that the critical findings in A. W. Inhoff, B. M. Eiter, and R. Radach are in general agreement with core assumptions of sequential attention shift models if additional assumptions and facts are considered. The current authors critically discuss the hypothesized time line of processing and indicate…

Advocates of high standards and expectations usually believe that gaps in reading achievement can be eliminated with good teaching, but slow readers need a specially designed reading curriculum. The teacher first needs to use an informal reading inventory to determine the student's reading level. Functioning generally on a higher level than…

The materials in this teaching unit are designed to improve the skills of second grade students in following directions, understanding and following a sequence of actions, and recognizing common word structures (compound words, prefixes, and suffixes). Each section of the unit contains a brief overview of the skill area, a list of performance…