LE3 .A278 2015

2015

Newman, Randy Lynn

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Psychology

Psychology

Eye tracking was used to investigate the impact of reading skill on phonological processing in university students with a self-reported history of reading problems (i.e., less-skilled readers) and those with no such problems (i.e., skilled readers). Eye movements were recorded while participants heard a target word (e.g., candle) that was pictured amongst a shared onset or cohort competitor (e.g., candy), rhyme competitor (e.g., sandal), or unrelated competitor (e.g., pepper). Results revealed that while both groups demonstrated cohort interference, they did not demonstrate rhyme interference. It is suggested that the absence of rhyme interference does not reflect that both groups were ignoring rhyme information, but rather both groups used different underlying mechanisms associated with rhyme processing. For skilled readers, it is hypothesized that insufficient rhyme interference was not the result of impaired rhyme information. Instead, it is proposed that skilled readers had efficient phonological processing underscored by enhanced rhyme inhibition whereas less-skilled readers had impaired knowledge of rhyme information. Future research is needed to examine whether the observed differences can be attributed to differences in rhyme processing. Keywords: eye tracking, visual world paradigm, phonological processing, adults, reading ability, Adult Reading History Questionnaire-Revised

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1253