Orthographic Recognition in Late Adolescents

Abstract

Reading speed and efficiency are achieved through the automatic recognition of written words. Difficulties in learning and recognizing the orthography of words can arise despite reiterative exposure to texts. This study aimed to investigate, in native Spanish-speaking late adolescents, how different levels of orthographic knowledge might result in behavioral and event-related brain potential differences during the recognition of orthographic errors. Forty-five healthy high school students were selected and divided into 3 equal groups (High, Medium, Low) according to their performance on a 5-test battery of orthographic knowledge. All participants performed an orthographic recognition task consisting of the sequential presentation of a picture (object, fruit, or animal) followed by a correctly, or incorrectly, written word (orthographic mismatch) that named the picture just shown. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recording took place simultaneously. Behavioral results showed that the Low group had a significantly lower number of correct responses and increased reaction times while processing orthographical errors. Tests showed significant positive correlations between higher performance on the experimental task and faster and more accurate reading. The P150 and P450 components showed higher voltages in the High group when processing orthographic errors, whereas N170 seemed less lateralized to the left hemisphere in the lower orthographic performers. Also, trials with orthographic errors elicited a frontal P450 component that was only evident in the High group. The present results show that higher levels of orthographic knowledge correlate with high reading performance, likely because of faster and more accurate perceptual processing, better visual orthographic representations, and top-down supervision, as the event-related brain potential findings seem to suggest.

Analysis of Pseudohomophone Orthographic Errors through Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

“…Our results are also compatible with those of González-Garrido, Gómez-Velázquez, and Rodríguez-Santillán, (2014), who suggest that the electrophysiological correlates of orthographic errors processing have shown that adults with low orthographic abilities have problems in detecting orthographic rule violations, which could indicate weak representations in the orthographic lexicon or a difficulty in automatically accessing such representations.…”

ERP Effects of Word Exposure and Orthographic Knowledge on Lexical Decisions in Spanish

“…On the other hand, it has been shown that children with reading difficulties have concurrent spelling problems [27] [28], and that adolescents with low orthographic knowledge show slow reading and difficulty in recognizing phonological spelling errors in Spanish [29].…”

Rasgos Residuales de Dislexia en Estudiantes Preuniversitarios

“…Se ha reportado, por ejemplo, que una mayor proporción de jóvenes con pobre conocimiento ortográfico y bajo rendimiento lector no continúan estudiando después del bachillerato, en comparación con aquéllos jóvenes con un conocimiento ortográfico y una lectura normales (González-Garrido, et al, 2014). La mayoría de ellos no tienen un diagnóstico de dificultades lectoras, debido principalmente a la falta de consenso en el ambito académico sobre los rasgos distintivos de la dislexia en el adulto y a la falta de instrumentos diagnósticos fiables y de aplicación rápida, que permitan detectar tempranamente el problema.…”