Are Reading Difficulties Associated With Poor Verbal Learning Skills? Evidence From the Fast-Mapping Paradigm

Abstract

The main purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of the mechanism of learning new words among typical readers and those with developmental reading difficulties. Twenty-three poor readers and twenty-two typical readers performed a fast mapping word learning task. Three variables were measured; the learning rate, the identification ability after learning and the recognition of the referents of learned new words. The results revealed that the performances of the typical readers were significantly higher than those of the poor readers in all measures. The results were discussed in light of the verbal efficiency framework and the poor visual-phonological associations among the poor readers.