CH 08: Reading and Writing

What are the three main types of writing systems?

Logographic, syllabary, and alphabetic.

What defines a logographic system?

Symbols represent whole words or concepts (logograms).

What defines a syllabary?

Each symbol represents a syllable.

What defines an alphabetic system?

Each symbol represents a phoneme (sound).

Why are alphabetic systems efficient?

They use a limited set of symbols to represent many words.

What is orthography?

The rules for mapping written symbols to sounds.

What is the difference between shallow vs deep orthography?

• Shallow: consistent spelling-to-sound mapping (e.g., Spanish)

• Deep: inconsistent mapping (e.g., English)

Why is English considered a deep orthography?

Because spelling does not reliably predict pronunciation.

What is a homograph?

Same spelling, different meanings/pronunciations.

What is a homophone?

Same pronunciation, different meanings/spellings.

Why is reading considered a “recent” skill?

It has not existed long enough for specialized brain evolution.

What is the neuronal recycling hypothesis?

The brain repurposes existing visual/object recognition systems for reading.

What is the role of the Visual Word Form Area?

Recognizes written words and letter patterns.

Where is the VWFA located?

Left occipitotemporal region.

Why is the VWFA important for literacy?

Its development and connectivity correlate with reading ability.

Why are most writing systems visually similar across cultures?

They match the brain’s preference for simple line junctions and shapes.

Why do letters typically have ~3 strokes?

Balance between variability and ease of recognition/production.

What is pure alexia?

Inability to read despite intact vision and object recognition.

What is letter-by-letter reading?

Slow reading by identifying each letter individually.

Why can children recover better from brain damage than adults?

Greater neural plasticity allows reorganization.

What is a saccade?

Rapid eye movement between fixation points (no processing).

What is a fixation?

A pause where visual information is processed.

What is the perceptual span?

The range of text visible during fixation (fovea + parafovea).

Why do readers skip function words?

They are highly frequent and predictable.

What is the spillover effect?

Difficulty processing one word affects the next.

How do dyslexic readers differ in eye movements?

• More fixations

• Shorter saccades

• More regressions

Why is early oral language ability important?

It predicts later reading success.

What is phonological awareness?

Awareness of sound structures in language.

What is the alphabetic principle?

Understanding that letters map to sounds.

What is grapheme → phoneme conversion?

Translating written letters into sounds.

What are the two routes in the dual route model?

• Direct (orthography → meaning)

• Indirect (orthography → phonology → meaning)

Which route do skilled readers use more?

Direct route.

Which route do beginner readers use?

Indirect route (sounding out).

What are pseudowords, and why are they useful?

Fake words used to test phonological decoding ability.

What is surface dyslexia?

Difficulty recognizing whole words; relies on sounding out.

What is phonological dyslexia?

Difficulty sounding out words.

What is letter-position dyslexia?

Difficulty with spatial arrangement of letters.

What is developmental dyslexia?

What is developmental dyslexia?

What is the main underlying deficit in dyslexia?

Phonological processing.

Is dyslexia related to intelligence?

No.

Is dyslexia heritable?

Yes, strongly.

What is rapid serial naming?

Quickly naming familiar items to test fluency.

Why is early intervention important?

It improves reading accuracy and fluency.

What is trochaic bias?

Preference for stressing the first syllable.

What is a sign of skilled reading?

Having an inner voice.

What is the implicit prosody hypothesis?

Reading mimics spoken rhythm and intonation.

What are the three stages of writing?

• Idea generation (semantics)

• Sound-to-letter conversion

• Motor execution

What is the role of Exner’s area?

Planning the motor aspects of writing.

What is apraxic agraphia?

Difficulty forming letters due to motor planning issues.

What are the three levels of spelling?

• Phonological

• Orthographic

• Morphological

What is flexible focus writing?

Writing with many tangents.

What is fixed focus writing?

Staying on topic but with simple ideas.

What is topic-elaboration writing?

Staying on topic with detailed development.

What are the three levels in the Hayes model?

• Control

• Processing

• Resource

What does the proposer do?

Generates ideas.

What does the translator do?

Converts ideas into language.

What does the transcriber do?

Writes the words down.

What does the evaluator do?

Edits and revises.

What is transcription in writing?

Converting thoughts into written text.

Why is transcription a bottleneck?

It requires effort, especially for children and dyslexic individuals.

Why are adults less motivated to write than read?

Writing is more cognitively demanding.

Writing is more cognitively demanding.

Writing is permanent (indelible), speech is temporary.

How do skilled vs novice writers revise text?

• Novice: local edits

• Skilled: global + local revisions

How does phonological awareness support reading development?

It allows mapping sounds to letters, enabling decoding and word recognition.

Why is dyslexia primarily considered a phonological disorder?

Because difficulties stem from decoding and processing speech sounds, not vision.

How do brain systems adapt for reading despite it being a recent skill?

Through neuronal recycling of visual and language systems.