The cognitive profile and multiple-deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia.

TLDR

The study examined the cognitive profile and multiple‑deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Thirty dyslexic children were compared with age‑matched and reading‑level matched controls on rapid naming, visual, phonological, and orthographic tasks. Chinese dyslexic children performed worse than age‑matched controls but similarly to reading‑level matched controls, with rapid naming deficits being most prominent, multiple deficits correlating with reading and spelling impairment, thereby supporting the multiple‑deficit hypothesis.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the cognitive profile and multiple-deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Thirty Chinese dyslexic children in Hong Kong were compared with 30 average readers of the same chronological age (CA controls) and 30 average readers of the same reading level (RL controls) in a number of rapid naming, visual, phonological, and orthographic tasks. Chinese dyslexic children performed significantly worse than the CA controls but similarly to the RL controls on most of the cognitive tasks. The rapid naming deficit was found to be the most dominant type of cognitive deficit in Chinese dyslexic children. Over half of the dyslexic children exhibited deficits in 3 or more cognitive areas, and there was a significant association between the number of cognitive deficits and the degree of reading and spelling impairment. The present findings support the multiple-deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia.