CDT CDT Neuroscience of Reading & Brain-Based Learning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Working memory is critically important in reading because it allows a reader to:
- Recognize whole words by sight without phonological processing
- Hold decoded word parts in mind while blending them into a complete word (Correct answer)
- Skip unfamiliar words and use context clues only
- Process punctuation and spacing automatically
Correct answer: Hold decoded word parts in mind while blending them into a complete word
Working memory enables the reader to retain decoded phoneme segments while blending them, making it essential for sounding out unfamiliar words.
Question 2: The 'double-deficit hypothesis' of dyslexia proposed by Wolf and Bowers identifies which two core deficits?
- Phonological awareness and working memory
- Phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) (Correct answer)
- Visual processing and auditory processing
- Orthographic memory and syntax
Correct answer: Phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN)
Wolf and Bowers identified phonological awareness deficits and rapid automatized naming (RAN) deficits as the two distinct core deficits in the double-deficit subtype of dyslexia.
Question 3: Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) tasks predict reading fluency because they measure:
- The speed of retrieving phonological codes from long-term memory (Correct answer)
- Vocabulary breadth and semantic knowledge
- Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity
- Morphological awareness and suffix knowledge
Correct answer: The speed of retrieving phonological codes from long-term memory
RAN reflects the speed and efficiency of retrieving phonological labels for familiar symbols, a process that underlies fluent, automatic word reading.
Question 4: Which term describes the ability to recognize and manipulate the smallest units of sound in spoken words?
- Phonological awareness
- Phonemic awareness (Correct answer)
- Phonics
- Orthographic awareness
Correct answer: Phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness is the specific, highest-level skill within phonological awareness that involves conscious manipulation of individual phonemes in spoken words.
Question 5: Which brain structure is responsible for integrating sensory information and is theorized to play a role in the timing deficits observed in some individuals with dyslexia?
- Amygdala
- Cerebellum (Correct answer)
- Hippocampus
- Thalamus
Correct answer: Cerebellum
The cerebellum is implicated in motor sequencing and timing, and the cerebellar deficit theory suggests it contributes to some automaticity and timing difficulties in dyslexia.
Question 6: According to Dehaene's research, the 'visual word form area' in skilled readers becomes specialized for:
- Processing faces and objects
- Rapidly recognizing the visual patterns of familiar words (Correct answer)
- Generating speech output
- Storing episodic memories of reading experiences
Correct answer: Rapidly recognizing the visual patterns of familiar words
Dehaene's work shows the left occipito-temporal visual word form area becomes finely tuned to recognize the orthographic patterns of words with speed and efficiency in skilled readers.
CDT CDT Neuroscience of Reading & Brain-Based Learning 2
Working memory is critically important in reading because it allows a reader to: