[PS-2.7] Implications of visuo-attentional and lexico-phonological mechanisms in dyslexia

Cohen, M. 1 , Zesiger, P. 2 & Laganaro, M. 2

1 University of Oslo - Department of Special Needs Education
2 University of Geneva - Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

To date, hypotheses on dyslexia have considered separately visuo-attentional skills (VAS) and the combination of phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming deficits (RAN), leaving open the possibility of a triple deficit in dyslexia. In this study, we tested whether we can find specific markers of the deficits underlying dyslexia at the behavioral level and on electrophysiological recordings. Seventy-four children took part to the study: 25 were diagnosed with dyslexia, 49 were typically developed children matched on age (n=25) or on reading level (n=24). They participated in an assessment of reading, RAN, PA and VAS as well as a session in which event related potentials (ERP) were recorded during reading and naming tasks. We found a large variety of profiles, from no associated deficits (n=9) to triple deficits (n=1) in the dyslexic sample, suggesting a partial independence of the three cognitive mechanisms. Interestingly, children with VAS deficits were among the youngest of the sample, suggesting an effect of age on VAS implication in dyslexia. In line with the double-deficit hypothesis, children with double-deficits were the poorest readers. ERP data in both tasks (reading and naming) are currently being processed.