How strong is the relationship between general phonological processes and pseudo-word reading? (51st Academy of Aphasia Proceedings)

Phonological dyslexia (PD) is an acquired reading disorder characterised by an abnormally strong lexicality effect, i.e., with impaired pseudo-word reading contrasting with relatively preserved real word reading (Beauvois & Derouesne, 1979). Parallel distributed models of reading aloud (Harm & Seidenberg, 2001) have made the strong\ud claim that PD is due to a general, non-reading specific deficit to central phonological representations which\ud manifests during pseudo-word reading due to the inherently high demands they place on the phonological system.\ud Under this account, patients with impaired phonology should show impaired pseudo-word reading and vice-versa.\ud Consistent with this view, phonological deficits frequently co-occur with PD (Friedman, 1996). In contrast, dual route\ud models posit that PD may result from a deficit to grapheme-phoneme conversion processes (sublexical reading\ud process) that does not have to implicate a general phonological deficit. We present two cases that directly challenge the phonological deficit view.