Exposure to Print and Orthographic Processing

• Published in: Reading research quarterly 1989-10, Vol.24 (4), p.402-433
• Main Authors: Stanovich, Keith E., West, Richard F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arts; Curriculum subjects: programmes and methods; Educational sciences; Naming conventions; Orthographies; Phonology; Reading research; Reading, writing; Speech discrimination; Statistical variance; Teaching methods; Words; Z score
• ISSN: 0034-0553; 1936-2722
• DOI: 10.2307/747605

Phonological processing skills have been shown to account for some, but not all, of the variance in the word recognition ability of both children and adults. In two studies with adult subjects in the United States, the authors investigated whether orthographic processing ability--the ability to form, store, and access orthographic representations--can account for some of the additional variance in word recognition and spelling skill. A new measure of individual differences in exposure to print--the Author Recognition Test--was developed and validated in the two studies. This measure was designed to be relatively free of a confound that has plagued most print exposure indicators used in studies of adults: the tendency of respondents to give socially desirable answers. The Author Recognition Test was shown to be a remarkably robust and independent predictor of word processing ability. In Study 2, subjects' performance on this measure was shown to predict variance in orthographic processing independent of phonological factors. The results of the two studies were supportive of the idea that there are individual differences in reading and spelling caused by variation in orthographic processing skills. Moreover, these orthographic processing skills appear to be linked to print exposure, and thus to be environmentally mediated, rather than being simply indirect products of differences in phonological processing ability. Both studies demonstrate the potential usefulness of the Author Recognition Test as an indicator of print exposure in research on the cognitive consequences of literacy. /// [French] Les recherches antérieures ont montré que certaines habiletés de traitement phonologique comptent pour une partie de la variance dans la reconnaissance de mots aussi bien par les adultes que par les enfants. Deux expériences ont été menées auprès d'adultes américains pour voir dans quelle mesure le traitement orthographique peut compter pour une partie de variance supplémentaire dans la reconnaissance de mots et l'épellation. Une nouvelle mesure du degré d'exposition à l'écrit a été développée et validée dans les deux expériences: Le test de reconnaissance d'auteurs (ART). Cette mesure a été développée pour contourner le problème posé par les méthodes habituellement utilisées dans les recherches auprès d'adultes, qui font qu'ils ont tendance à répondre en conformité avec ce qu'ils jugent socialement acceptable. Le test de reconnaissance d'auteurs s'est révélé un prédi