Immediate memory for pseudowords and phonological awareness are associated in adults and pre-reading children

Abstract

This study investigated phonological components of reading skill at two ages, using a novel pseudoword repetition task for assessing phonological memory (PM). Pseudowords were designed to incorporate control over segmental, prosodic and lexical features. In Experiment 1, the materials were administered to 3- and 4-year-old children together with a standardized test of phonological awareness (PA). PA and pseudoword repetition showed a moderate positive correlation, independent of age. Experiment 2, which targeted young adults, employed the same pseudoword materials, with a different administration protocol, together with standardized indices of PA, other memory measures and decoding skill. The results showed moderate to strong positive correlations among our novel pseudoword repetition task, measures of PM and PA and decoding. Together, the findings demonstrate the feasibility of assessing PM with the same carefully controlled materials at widely spaced points in age, adding to present resources for assessing PM and better enabling future studies to map the development of relationships among phonological capabilities in both typically developing children and those with language-related impairments.

Keywords:

• phonological memory
• phonological awareness
• pseudoword repetition
• decoding
• assessment
• preschool children
• young adults