Principal Investigator: Howard Alpert
Decoding is a basic part of reading. It is turning written words into spoken words. This project will clarify the distinct roles of phonemic awareness, executive function, and rapid automatized naming in relation to decoding. Past research established phonemic awareness-—using language sounds in rhymes and such—as central to decoding. Rapid automatized naming—the rate of naming printed letters, colors, etc.—also appears to play a role in decoding. Recent research suggests executive function—a broad term that, here, refers to keeping track of choices, inhibiting actions, and switching attention between attributes—as another possible factor. Executive function research has been limited because children’s executive function is difficult to measure. This study uses an innovative, game-like instrument to measure executive function. Distinguishing the roles of phonemic awareness,
Decoding is a basic part of reading. It is turning written words into spoken words. This project will clarify the distinct roles of phonemic awareness, executive function, and rapid automatized naming in relation to decoding. Past research established phonemic awareness-—using language sounds in rhymes and such—as central to decoding. Rapid automatized naming—the rate of naming printed letters, colors, etc.—also appears to play a role in decoding. Recent research suggests executive function—a broad term that, here, refers to keeping track of choices, inhibiting actions, and switching attention between attributes—as another possible factor. Executive function research has been limited because children’s executive function is difficult to measure. This study uses an innovative, game-like instrument to measure executive function. Distinguishing the roles of phonemic awareness.