Cognitive Processing Perspective
"seek to describe the underlying mental processes inherent in the act of reading" (Tracey &
Morrow, 151)
-explains how information is processed, stored, and retrieved in the mind
-information goes through different stages as it is being stored
Types of long term memory
-Episodic Memory: images of personal experiences
-Semantic Memory: facts and general knowledge
-Procedural Memory: how to do something
-Flashbulb Memory: important events with visual/auditory memories
Examples: cramming for a test (forgetting the information after the test) vs. constantly
using/referencing information (spiral curriculum in schools)
-helpful for understanding how information is processed and the capabilities of long and short
term memories
-when teaching sight words only teach a few at a time
-Ways to improve memory: http://www.cdl.org/resourcelibrary/articles/memory_strategies_May06.php
http://www.elementarymatters.com/2012/04/twelve-strategies-to-get-from-working.html
Gough's Model
-"Bottom up" Information-Processing model (from letter/sounds to sentence meaning)
-lower order to higher order thinking
-focuses on decoding and comprehension
-helps teachers identify where the problem/difficulty in reading lies
-from letter identification, letter/sound relationships, word meanings, comprehension
-if students are spending too much energy decoding, comprehension will not be there
Helping with letter/sound relationships and decoding:
http://teachers.cr.k12.de.us/~galgano/dibelsound.htm
http://www.prekinders.com/2010/01/letter-sounds-activity-cards/
http://languageartsgames.4you4free.com/letter_sounds.html
http://www.starfall.com/
Helping with Word Meaning:
http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/Readquarium/Vocabulary/Word_Meaning/
Helping with Comprehension:
http://reading.ecb.org/
http://www.readingglassesshopper.com/online-reading-games-for-kids.html
Parallel Distributed Processing Model (Tracey & Morrow, pp. 166-171)
-two central features are that:
(1) all cognitive info is stored as a series of connections between units and
(2) these connections between units become stronger and faster with repeated pairings
-a "connectionist" theory of reading; "connectionism" refers to storing info in the brain as a
series of connections of differing strength; as pairings become more frequent, the
strength/weight of the connection increases.
-suggests four primary processors are central to the reading process:
(Tracey & Morrow, p. 167)
1) orthographic processor- where print recognition occurs, and where the reading
process begins; holds knowledge about lines, curves, angles, & space, all associated
with info needed for letter/number identification
*[the "inter-letter associational unit system"- the orthographic processor uses the
strength of the connections between letters to activate letters that are likely to
follow the first letter, while suppressing letters that are unlikely to follow that
letter; ex: h often follows t, but q doesn't often follow t; this helps readers
gradually build rapid word identification skills; for this system to work, letter
recognition must be automatic]
2) meaning processor- attaches meaning (vocabulary) to words identified in the
orthographic processor; makes connections between new vocabulary and experiences,
building off of the learner's schema.
3) phonological processor- where the sounds associated with words are processed;
sounds (or phonemes) that frequently occur together have stronger and faster
connections with each other than sounds that rarely occur together; so the processor
activates sounds that are likely to follow each other while suppressing sounds that are
unlikely to do so.
*[2 benefits given by phonological processor; (1) alphabetic backup systembecomes activated when a person has an auditory familiarity with a word but
hasn't seen it printed; this leads to "sounding out" the word and helps with
identification and meaning; (2) running memory capability- provides "inner voice"
when reading, allowing words to be briefly held in working memory and available
for further processing as they're read.]
4) context processor- where reader constructs meanings of phrases, sentences,
paragraphs, and full texts during reading process; this processor receives and delivers
info to and from the meaning processor and then transfers it back to the context
processor to construct messages.
-this model says that successful reading depends on reader's abilities in four areas: automatic
letter recognition, accurate phonemic processing, strong vocabulary knowledge, and the ability
to construct meaningful messages during reading.
Double-Deficit Hypothesis
Those children who have difficulty in phonemic awareness and rapid naming. The hypothesis
suggests that kids may not "just not know phonics", may have difficulty saying what they know
-RAN (rapid naming naming test) can be used to predict which children will be at risk for reading
difficulty
Neuroscience and Education
-Cognitive neuroscience: study of higher patterns of brain functioning through brain imaging
technology (Tracey & Morrow, 175)
-can help learn how people read and identifying reading difficulty
-tests study how the brain is used during certain and how problems in these areas cause
problems
-many of the tests are not appropriate for children though
-left side of the brain is involved in reading
-Pugh et al." occipital, temporal, and parietal areas are used for processing print
-reading is improved with increased activity in the temporal-occipital region
-dyslexic children show impaired imaging (organization of the right side of the brain is different)
-proper testing that is appropriate for children could lead to early diagnosis of children
Interactive and Interactive-Compensatory Models
This model involves both bottom-up and top-down models.
Bottom-up is the idea that reading takes place by piecing together small parts, or phonic sounds
to form letter sounds then word sounds.
Top-down is the idea that children learn entire words by sight and shape.
The central characteristic of an interactive model is that the reader simultaneously uses
information that is provided from multiple sources during the reading process (Tracey & Morrow,
pg. 162)..
● word order within sentences
● message construction
● visual input
● word knowledge
The Interactive model illustrates the idea that children learn from all information sources:
● Letter recognition knowledge
● Corresponding sound production
● Syntax (Context in which a word is used)
● Shape of individual words
● Experience of the reader
Reading teachers depend on this broader model as they know that different types of reading
produces different type of learning. For examples:) When children are learning vocabulary
words they learn letter by letter then word by word. When children are reading literature, there is
a faster scanning process involved.
Rumelhart- Originally created the Interactive Model (1977) which displays the idea that reading
is decoded using various processing techniques simultaneously versus in a linear process. He
believed that there are numerous ways in which words can be identified during reading.
Stanovich- In 1980 he extended the interactive model to include the idea that not only are text
processors interactive and nonlinear, but that they are also compensatory. By this Stanovich
meant that if one process is not working well, or have insufficient data, the other processors
compensate for it (Tracey & Morrow, pg. 163). His model was called the InteractiveCompensatory Model.
Phonological-Core Variable Difference Model
●
Stanovich
●
His research demonstrated that IQ discrepancy was not an accurate way of identifying
dyslexic readers.
●
He argued that the primary difference between normal and dyslexic individuals was
determined by deficits in the phonological realm of cognitive functioning
●
Argued that dyslexia is a type of learning disability characterized by problems related to
literacy learning in the absence of problems in other areas of cognitive functioning.
●
Emphasized that the locus of these learning problems was a phonological-processing
deficit.
●
Stanvoich's academic consequences of being dyslexic:
○ Children with phonemic awareness deficits are slower to break the sound-symbol code of reading
○ As a result of this delay, these children are exposed to less text in school
○ Less exposure to text leads to fewer opportunities to practice reading, and less exposure to
content knowledge
○ These cognitive problems lead to motivational issues because when children are less successful
with early reading, they are less likely to want to read
○ Reading less further exasperates the cognitive differences between the reading-disabled students
and their nondisabled peers
○ The reading-disabled children develop generalized cognitive deficits when compared to their
nondisabled peers
●
Stanovich argued that phonological deficits were central to dyslexic readers' cognitive
difficulties
●
This model is classified as a cognitive-processing model because the central feature of
the model is a deficit in the phonological processor.