Neurocognitive Predictors of Response to Intervention With GraphoGame Rime

Abstract

This study explores the neurocognitive predictors of response to intervention with GraphoGame Rime (GG Rime), an adaptive software game designed to aid the learning of English phonics. A cohort of 398 children (aged 6–7 years) who had participated in a recent randomised controlled trial (RCT) of GG Rime in the United Kingdom were studied. Half were randomly assigned to play GG Rime and the other half were assigned to Business As Usual (BAU). A series of pretests were given prior to the intervention to all participants, designed to measure phonological awareness skills, executive function (EF) skills and the ability to synchronise finger tapping to a rhythmic beat. Rhythmic synchronisation has been linked to reading readiness and early reading attainment, and is related to phonological awareness. Individual differences prior to the intervention in all three types of measure were significantly associated with progression through the game. Gender was also important for progression through the game, with boys progressing significantly further than girls. Vocabulary was not a predictor of progression through the game. Playing time, rhythmic synchronisation, phonological skills and EF skills did not differ by gender. Once playing time and non-verbal cognitive ability were controlled, phonological awareness, EF, rhythmic synchronisation and gender all remained significant predictors of progression through the game. In further analyses comparing these predictors, their interactions and controlling for the autoregressor of prior responsiveness to phonics instruction, phoneme awareness and EF skills were the strongest unique predictors. Analyses with the whole cohort (analysing BAU and GG children independently) showed that all neurocognitive measures contributed to progress in reading and spelling over the school year. We conclude that individual differences in phonological skills and EF skills predict which children will benefit most from computer assisted reading interventions like GG Rime. Further, boys respond better to this computerised intervention than girls. Accordingly, to be maximally beneficial to poor readers, the supplementary use of GG Rime in addition to ongoing classroom literacy instruction could be especially targeted to boys, but should be accompanied by a focus on developing both oral phonological awareness and EF skills.

Assessing the effectiveness of a game‐based phonics intervention for first and second grade English language learners in India: A randomized controlled trial

“…At least for the GL in-game assessment tasks, there were differences in game effectiveness with those children with better pre-existing English literacy skill seemingly benefitting more. These findings are in line with previous GL English Rime studies which have found that existing phoneme awareness skill is predictive of response to GL (Wilson et al, 2021) and those children who do respond to GL seem to make gains (Ahmed et al, 2020).…”

“…Teachers found GL Rime easy to implement, engaging, and motivating, however, there was no evidence of improved reading outcomes over business-as- showed significantly higher gains and it was concluded that GL is more effective than business-as-usual in developing English phonics (Ahmed et al, 2020). Wilson et al (2021) recently re-examined the same data set to better understand the types of children who best respond to GL intervention as indicated by game progress. They found that phonological skills and executive functioning skills were the strongest unique predictors of game progress.…”

A better start literacy approach: effectiveness of Tier 1 and Tier 2 support within a response to teaching framework

“…Importantly, the results suggested that in response to the BSLA teaching, children were learning to use their enhanced phonic and phonological awareness knowledge in decoding and encoding written words, as evidenced by their significantly improved non-word reading and spelling performance. Recently, Wilson et al (2021) also reported positive outcomes from explicit teaching via a digital game format that focused children's attention on word decoding and encoding skills. In their study, they observed children's responses to a digital game intervention that they played for 10-15 min daily for 12 weeks.…”

“…This paper focuses on the children's development of phoneme awareness skills and the transfer of these skills to reading and spelling in response to the BSLA teaching within the children's first year at school. A child's phonological awareness ability has consistently been shown to be a strong protective factor in supporting children's early reading success (Wilson et al, 2021).…”

Neuroeducation, Classroom Interventions and Reading Comprehension: A Systematic Review of the 2010-2022 Literature

“…Bezerra-Mota et al, 2016;Buono et al, 2020). The secondary stage was explored in the United Kingdom and investigated whether verbal and/or visuospatial working memory tasks correlate with reading and mathematics performance (Giofré et al, 2018;Wilson et al, 2021). In the university context, only one study contributed to demonstrate the influence of memory and emotion on reading habits (Álvarez et al, 2021).…”