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Statistical views of reading highlight the link between proficient literacy and the assimilation of various regularities embedded in writing systems, including those in the mapping between print and meaning. Still, orthographic-semantic (O-S) regularities remain relatively understudied, with open questions regarding 3 issues: (a) how O-S regularities should be quantified, (b) how they impact the behavior of proficient readers, and (c) whether individual differences in sensitivity to these regularities predict reading skills. The goal of the current article is to address these questions. We start by reviewing previous studies estimating print-meaning regularities, where orthography-to-semantics consistency (OSC) is defined as the mean semantic similarity between a word and its orthographic neighbors. While we adopt this general strategy, we identify a potential confound in previous operational definitions. We therefore offer a modified measure, which we use to examine group-level OSC effects in available data sets of single word recognition and reading for comprehension. Our findings validate the existence of OSC effects but reveal variation across tasks, with OSC effects emerging more strongly in tasks involving a direct mapping of print to meaning. Next, we present a reanalysis of word naming data from 399 second through fifth graders, where we examine individual differences in reliance on O-S regularities and their relation to participants' reading skills. We show that early readers whose naming accuracy is more influenced by OSC (i.e., those who rely more on O-S) have better passage comprehension abilities. We conclude by discussing the role of O-S regularities in proficient reading and literacy acquisition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

In the current study, we present a novel fMRI protocol in which words, pseudowords, and other word-like stimuli are passively presented in a rapid, sequential fashion. In this "fast" localizer paradigm, items are presented in groups of four; within sets, words are related in orthographic, phonological, and/or semantic properties. We tested this protocol with a group of skilled adult readers (N=18). Analyses uncovered key regions of the reading network that were sensitive to different component processes at the group level; namely, left fusiform gyrus as well as the pars opercularis subregion of inferior frontal gyrus were sensitive to lexicality; several regions including left precentral gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus were sensitive to spelling-sound consistency; the pars triangularis subregion of inferior frontal gyrus was sensitive to semantic similarity. Additionally, in a number of key brain regions, activation in response to semantically similar words was related to individual differences in reading comprehension outside the scanner. Importantly, these findings are in line with previous investigations of the reading network, yet data were obtained using much less imaging time than comparable paradigms currently available, especially relative to the number of indices of component processes obtained. This feature, combined with the relatively simple nature of the task, renders it appropriate for groups of subjects with a wide range of reading abilities, including children with impairments., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Frost's critique reveals the limitations of the reverse-engineering approach to cognitive modeling--the style of psychological explanation in which a stipulated internal organization (in the form of a computational mechanism) explains a relatively narrow set of phenomena. An alternative is to view organization as both the explanation for some phenomena and a phenomenon to be explained. This move poses new and interesting theoretical challenges for theories of word reading.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we explored the role of semantics in mediating orthographic-to-phonological processing in reading aloud, focusing on the interaction of imageability with spelling-to-sound consistency for low-frequency words. Behaviorally, high-imageable words attenuate the standard latency and accuracy disadvantage for low-frequency inconsistent words relative to their consistent counterparts. Neurobiologically, high-imageable words reduced consistency-related activation in the inferior frontal gyrus but increased posterior activation in the angular and middle temporal gyri, representing a possible neural signature of the tradeoff between semantics and phonology in reading aloud. We discuss implications for neurobiological models of reading in terms of understanding the interplay among areas associated with component processes and suggest that the results constitute an important step toward integrating neurobiological and computational models of reading.

Statistical learning (SL) approaches to reading maintain that proficient reading requires assimilation of rich statistical regularities in the writing system. Reading skills in developing first-language readers are predicted by individual differences in sensitivity to regularities in mappings from orthography to phonology (O-P) and semantics (O-S), where good readers rely more on O-P consistency, and less on O-S associations. However, how these regularities are leveraged by second-language (L2) learners remains an open question. We utilize an individual-differences approach, measuring L2 English learners' sensitivity to O-P, O-S, and frequency during word-naming, across two years of immersion. We show that reliance on O-P is leveraged by better readers, while reliance on O-S is slower to develop, characterizing less proficient readers. All factors explain substantial individual variance in L2 reading skills. These findings show how SL plays a key role in L2 reading development through its role in assimilating sublexical regularities between print and speech.

Statistical views of reading highlight the link between proficient literacy and the assimilation of various regularities embedded in writing systems, including those in the mapping between print and meaning. Still, orthographic-semantic (O-S) regularities remain relatively understudied, with open questions regarding 3 issues: (a) how O-S regularities should be quantified, (b) how they impact the behavior of proficient readers, and (c) whether individual differences in sensitivity to these regularities predict reading skills. The goal of the current article is to address these questions. We start by reviewing previous studies estimating print-meaning regularities, where orthography-to-semantics consistency (OSC) is defined as the mean semantic similarity between a word and its orthographic neighbors. While we adopt this general strategy, we identify a potential confound in previous operational definitions. We therefore offer a modified measure, which we use to examine group-level OSC effects in available data sets of single word recognition and reading for comprehension. Our findings validate the existence of OSC effects but reveal variation across tasks, with OSC effects emerging more strongly in tasks involving a direct mapping of print to meaning. Next, we present a reanalysis of word naming data from 399 second through fifth graders, where we examine individual differences in reliance on O-S regularities and their relation to participants' reading skills. We show that early readers whose naming accuracy is more influenced by OSC (i.e., those who rely more on O-S) have better passage comprehension abilities. We conclude by discussing the role of O-S regularities in proficient reading and literacy acquisition.

There is now considerable evidence regarding the types of interventions that are effective at remediating reading disabilities on average. It is generally unclear, however, what predicts the magnitude of individual-level change following a given intervention. We examine new predictors of intervention gains that are theoretically grounded in computational models of reading and focus on individual differences in the functional organization of the reading system. Specifically, we estimate the extent to which children with reading disabilities (n = 118 3rd-4th graders) rely on two sources of information during an oral word reading task-print-speech correspondences and semantic imageability--before and after a phonologically-weighted intervention. We show that children who relied more on print-speech regularities and less on imageability preintervention had better intervention gains. In parallel, children who over the course of the intervention exhibited greater increases in their reliance on print-speech correspondences and greater decreases in their reliance on imageability, had better intervention outcomes. Importantly, these two factors were differentially related to specific reading task outcomes, with greater reliance on print-speech correspondences associated with pseudoword naming, while (lesser) reliance on imageability related to word reading and comprehension. We discuss the implications of these findings for theoretical models of reading acquisition and educational practice.

This article reports two experiments in which the artificial orthography paradigm was used to investigate the mechanisms underlying learning to read. In each experiment, participants were taught the meanings and pronunications of words written in an unfamiliar orthography, and the statistical structure of the mapping between written and spoken forms (O-P) was manipulated independently of the mapping between written forms and their meanings (O-S). Our results support three main conclusions. First, the statistical structure of O-P and O-S mappings determined how easily each of those mappings was learned, suggesting that the learning of both mappings engages a common statistical learning mechanism. Second, learning to read is a cooperative process, in that learning in any particular component of the reading system is influenced by knowledge stored in the rest of the system. Finally, knowledge of sublexical regularities can be acquired as the result of exposure to words embodying those regularities.

The strategy underlying most computational models of word reading is to specify the organization of the reading system--its architecture and the processes and representations it employs--and to demonstrate that this organization would give rise to the behavior observed in word reading tasks. This approach fails to adequately address the variation in reading behavior observed across and within linguistic communities. Only computational models that incorporate learning can fully account for variation in organization. However, even extant learning models (e.g., the triangle model) must be extended if they are to fully account for variation in organization. The challenges associated with extending theories in this way are discussed.

Previous studies haves shown that under masked priming conditions, CORNER primes CORN as strongly as TEACHER primes TEACH and more strongly than BROTHEL primes BROTH. This result has been taken as evidence of a purely structural level of representation at which words are decomposed into morphological constituents in a manner that is independent of semantics. The research reported here investigated the influence of semantic transparency on long-term morphological priming. Two experiments demonstrated that while lexical decisions were facilitated by semantically transparent primes like TEACHER, semantically opaque words like CORNER had no effect. Although differences in the nonword foils used in each experiIment gave rise to somewhat different patterns of results, this difference in the effects of transparent and opaque primes was found in both experiments. The implications of this finding for accounts of morphological effects on visual word identification are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 3 footnotes.)

Statistical learning (SL) approaches to reading maintain that proficient reading requires assimilation of rich statistical regularities in the writing system. Reading skills in developing first-language readers are predicted by individual differences in sensitivity to regularities in mappings from orthography to phonology (O-P) and semantics (O-S), where good readers rely more on O-P consistency, and less on O-S associations. However, how these regularities are leveraged by second-language (L2) learners remains an open question. We utilize an individual-differences approach, measuring L2 English learners' sensitivity to O-P, O-S, and frequency during word-naming, across two years of immersion. We show that reliance on O-P is leveraged by better readers, while reliance on O-S is slower to develop, characterizing less proficient readers. All factors explain substantial individual variance in L2 reading skills. These findings show how SL plays a key role in L2 reading development through its role in assimilating sublexical regularities between print and speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies haves shown that under masked priming conditions, CORNER primes CORN as strongly as TEACHER primes TEACH and more strongly than BROTHEL primes BROTH. This result has been taken as evidence of a purely structural level of representation at which words are decomposed into morphological constituents in a manner that is independent of semantics. The research reported here investigated the influence of semantic transparency on long-term morphological priming. Two experiments demonstrated that while lexical decisions were facilitated by semantically transparent primes like TEACHER, semantically opaque words like CORNER had no effect. Although differences in the nonword foils used in each experiment gave rise to somewhat different patterns of results, this difference in the effects of transparent and opaque primes was found in both experiments. The implications of this finding for accounts of morphological effects on visual word identification are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reading requires assimilating regularities between print, speech, and meaning. • We quantify early readers' reliance on these regularities during word naming. • Children who rely more on print-speech regularities have better reading skills. • Children who rely more on print-meaning associations are poorer readers. Statistical views of literacy development maintain that proficient reading requires the assimilation of myriad statistical regularities present in the writing system. Indeed, previous studies have tied statistical learning (SL) abilities to reading skills, establishing the existence of a link between the two. However, some issues are currently left unanswered, including questions regarding the underlying bases for these associations as well as the types of statistical regularities actually assimilated by developing readers. Here we present an alternative approach to study the role of SL in literacy development, focusing on individual differences among beginning readers. Instead of using an artificial task to estimate SL abilities, our approach identifies individual differences in children's reliance on statistical regularities as reflected by actual reading behavior. We specifically focus on individuals' reliance on regularities in the mapping between print and speech versus associations between print and meaning in a word naming task. We present data from 399 children, showing that those whose oral naming performance is impacted more by print-speech regularities and less by associations between print and meaning have better reading skills. These findings suggest that a key route by which SL mechanisms impact developing reading abilities is via their role in the assimilation of sub-lexical regularities between printed and spoken language - and more generally, in detecting regularities that are more reliable than others. We discuss the implications of our findings to both SL and reading theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]