| This study investigated the relationship among behavioral and neuroanatomical predictors of reading achievement in a group of school-age children. Specifically, relationships between naming speed and other predictors of reading (i.e., phonological awareness, cognitive ability, and processing speed) were investigated to determine how these variables influence naming speed's prediction of reading achievement. In addition, this study examined specific neuroanatomical regions and their relationship to these predictors. A sample of 57 children, between the ages of 7 and 11 years, were administered three measures of naming speed (i.e., RAN Colors, Numbers, and Letters tasks), two measures of phonological awareness (i.e., the Elision and the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization tests [LAC]), a measure of cognitive ability (Woodcock Johnson-Test of Cognitive Ability-Revised), a battery of elementary cognitive tasks (Visual Inspection Time [IT], and Simple, Choice, and Odd-Man-Out Reaction Time [RT]), and three subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-Revised to assess reading skills and performance. In addition, all participants received a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of their brain to measure specific neuroanatomical regions, including surface area of the pars triangularis, planum temporale and parietale, Heschl's gyrus, and the corpus callosum. Volumetric measurements were also made of the anterior lobe of the cerebellum and the cerebrum.; There were three major findings in this study. First, consistent with previous research, the results of this study indicate significant contributions of both naming speed and phonological awareness to the prediction of reading achievement. However, in this study, phonological awareness emerged as the strongest predictor overall, with a limited contribution from naming speed, for all of the specific reading skills assessed. Second, the results suggest that cognitive ability is an important predictor of reading achievement and may share some overlapping variance with naming speed. In addition, the relationship between naming speed and reading appears unrelated to processing speed.; Finally, the neuroanatomical findings in this study suggest significant relationships among regions in the brain and predictors of reading achievement. However, it is more likely that the variability in reading skill can be better accounted for by a combination of behavioral and biological factors. Implications for future research are discussed. |
