The SLS-Berlin: Validation of a German Computer-Based Screening Test to Measure Reading Proficiency in Early and Late Adulthood

Abstract

Reading proficiency, i.e., successfully integrating early word-based information and utilizing this information in later processes of sentence and text comprehension, and its assessment is subject to extensive research. However, screening tests for German adults across the life span are basically non-existent. Therefore, the present article introduces a standardized computerized sentence-based screening measure for German adult readers to assess reading proficiency including norm data from 2,148 participants covering an age range from 16 to 88 years. The test was developed in accordance with the children’s version of the Salzburger LeseScreening (SLS, Wimmer and Mayringer, 2014 ). The SLS-Berlin has a high reliability and can easily be implemented in any research setting using German language. We present a detailed description of the test and report the distribution of SLS-Berlin scores for the norm sample as well as for two subsamples of younger (below 60 years) and older adults (60 and older). For all three samples, we conducted regression analyses to investigate the relationship between sentence characteristics and SLS-Berlin scores. In a second validation study, SLS-Berlin scores were compared with two (pseudo)word reading tests, a test measuring attention and processing speed and eye-movements recorded during expository text reading. Our results confirm the SLS-Berlin’s sensitivity to capture early word decoding and later text related comprehension processes. The test distinguished very well between skilled and less skilled readers and also within less skilled readers and is therefore a powerful and efficient screening test for German adults to assess interindividual levels of reading proficiency.

From Abstract Symbols to Emotional (In-)Sights: An Eye Tracking Study on the Effects of Emotional Vignettes and Pictures

“…Hence, textual valence was found to influence the comprehensibility of reading materials. More importantly, the influential role of valence needs to be considered in eye tracking studies since eye movements have been shown to be affected by both text difficulty (Rayner et al, 2006;Lüdtke et al, 2019) and valence (e.g., Scott et al, 2012;Knickerbocker et al, 2015;Ballenghein et al, 2019).…”

“…Since it remained inconclusive at which processing stage valence-specific effects on reading times for lexical units (i.e., words) would become evident, eye tracking measures reflecting both early (e.g., first fixation duration) and later (e.g., word total reading time) processes were considered (cf. Lüdtke et al, 2019).…”

“…For the analysis at the lexical level, we aimed to study a measure associated with early and a measure associated with both early and late processes of word recognition and comprehension (cf. Lüdtke et al, 2019). To analyze immediate effects of Perceived Valence, the commonly reported duration of the first fixation on each word was extracted (Hyönä et al, 2003;Kuperman and Van Dyke, 2011).…”

“…This observation emphasizes the low cognitive demands and high comprehensibility of our linguistic materials (cf. Cupchik et al, 1998;Søvik et al, 2000;Rayner et al, 2006;Liversedge et al, 2011;Lüdtke et al, 2019).…”

Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future

“…First, we used a French version of a computerized reading test which measures both reading comprehension and reading speed of sentences (i.e., SLS-Berlin, Lüdtke et al, 2019). It has been shown that the SLS-Berlin is an excellent tool for screening interindividual variability in reading expertise (Lüdtke et al, 2019). Second, to assess language proficiency, we used the Lextale_FR (Brysbaert, 2013) commonly used in the literature to screen participants' vocabulary size.…”