Reading Readiness and Early Linguistic Skills as a Function of Individual Differences in the Orienting Response. Working Paper No. 94.

The research paradigm of Farley and Manske on individual differences in the orienting response (OR) defined by heart rate (HR) deceleration was extended to performance in reading readiness tasks. The OR was measured in 114 kindergarteners. Fifteen trials of pure tone stimulation (1000 cps, 61 db) followed by a 16th trial at 2000 cps and a light-off stimulus were presented. The ORs to the initial, 16th and light-off trials were used in the analysis. A baseline-free measure of HR deceleration was employed. Reading-related tasks were the Metropolitan Readiness Tests and the de Hirsch battery. Principal components solution and normal varimax rotation indicated some contribution of the OR to the reading related tasks, though this was markedly moderated by sex. (Author)