Rapid automatised naming is related to reading and arithmetic for different reasons in Chinese: Evidence from Hong Kong third graders.

Background: Rapid automatised naming (RAN) has been found to predict children's reading and arithmetic abilities. However, the underlying mechanisms for its involvement in the two abilities are not clear. This study examines how RAN shared variances with domain‐general and domain‐specific abilities in predicting reading and arithmetic in Chinese children. Methods: One hundred and sixty‐four children (mean age = 8 years 0 months, SD = 4 months) were administered with RAN tasks, word reading and arithmetic tasks and measures of working memory, processing speed, morphological awareness, phonological awareness and number line estimation. Results: RAN mainly shared variance with morphological awareness in predicting word reading, while it shared variance with processing speed and number line estimation in predicting arithmetic calculation. Conclusions: The findings indicated that RAN was related to reading and arithmetic for different reasons. The RAN–reading relationship partly reflected the semantic facilitation of the orthography–phonology links for both RAN stimuli and Chinese characters, while the RAN–arithmetic relationship partly reflected the shared process of retrieving semantic information from long‐term memory embedded in the two tasks. Highlights: What is already known about this topicRapid automatised naming (RAN) is a strong predictor of both reading and arithmetic abilities in children.Some of the abilities were found to overlap with the prediction of RAN on reading and arithmetic.The RAN–reading relationship and the RAN–arithmetic relationship are different. What this paper addsMorphological awareness was found to share significant variance with RAN in predicting word reading.Processing speed and number line estimation were found to share significant variance with RAN in predicting arithmetic calculation.The results indicated different underlying mechanisms for the RAN–reading and RAN–arithmetic relations. Implications for theory, policy or practiceDifferent mechanisms underlie the RAN–reading and RAN–arithmetic relationships in Chinese children.The RAN–reading relationship in Chinese children was partly due to the facilitative effect of semantic information on the orthography–phonology mapping.The RAN–arithmetic relationship in Chinese children may be due to the retrieval efficiency of the semantic‐laden information from long‐term memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]