Structural components of single word recognition: Activation of orthographic, meaning, and phonological processors

Abstract

This study examined the roles of orthographic, meaning, and phonological processors in children's word recognition. Children at each of three age levels, 6–7, 8–9, and 10–12 were tested using a word recognition test, the Reading Decoding Subtest of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Each word was decomposed into eight structural components based upon Adams’ (1990) model of word recognition. The structural components were: number of graphemes, syllables, morphemes, consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs, r‐controlled vowels, consonant blends, and silent markers. For all three age levels, within‐subject regression coefficients of the eight variables on right/wrong score exhibited the same direction of regression but relative importance varied. Graphemic complexity accounted for the highest amount of variance at each level, with other variables shifting across age in a pattern consistent with a stage development model of word recognition.