Training Pseudoword Reading in Acquired Dyslexia: A Phonological Complexity Approach

Abstract

Background: Individuals with acquired phonological dyslexia experience difficulty associating written letters with corresponding sounds, especially in pseudowords. Previous studies have shown that reading can be improved in these individuals by training letter-sound correspondence, practicing phonological skills, or using combined approaches. However, generalization to untrained items is typically limited.

Aims: We investigated whether principles of phonological complexity can be applied to training letter-sound correspondence reading in acquired phonological dyslexia to improve generalization to untrained words. Based on previous work in other linguistic domains, we hypothesized that training phonologically "more complex" material (i.e., consonant clusters with small sonority differences) would result in generalization to phonologically "less complex" material (i.e., consonant clusters with larger sonority differences), but this generalization pattern would not be demonstrated when training the "less complex" material.

Methods & procedures: We used a single-participant, multiple baseline design across participants and behaviors to examine phonological complexity as a training variable in five individuals. Based on participants' error data from a previous experiment, a "more complex" onset and a "less complex" onset were selected for training for each participant. Training order assignment was pseudo-randomized and counterbalanced across participants. Three participants were trained in the "more complex" condition and two in the "less complex" condition while tracking oral reading accuracy of both onsets.

Outcomes & results: As predicted, participants trained in the "more complex" condition demonstrated improved pseudoword reading of the trained cluster and generalization to pseudowords with the untrained, "simple" onset, but not vice versa.

Conclusions: These findings suggest phonological complexity can be used to improve generalization to untrained phonologically related words in acquired phonological dyslexia. These findings also provide preliminary support for using phonological complexity theory as a tool for designing more effective and efficient reading treatments for acquired dyslexia.

Keywords: acquired dyslexia; complexity; phonology; pseudowords; sonority.

Figures

Figure 1

Initial consonant cluster reading accuracy in pseudowords for A) participant C1, B) participant C2, and C) participant C3.

Figure 2

Initial consonant cluster oral reading accuracy in the context of pseudowords for A) participant S1 and B) participant S2.

Figure 3

Accuracy of A) segment 1 and B) segment 2 in the context of pseudowords for participant C3.

Figure 4

Segment 2 production accuracy for all participants in the context of pseudowords.

Figure 5

Accuracy of initial consonant cluster production across A) all items and B) pseudoword items.