Developmental Phonological Dyslexia: Real Word Reading Can Be Completely Normal

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the reading performance of an 85- year-old subject with developmental phonological dyslexia. Although her nonword reading was severely impaired, Melanie-Jane read real words with normal latencies and accuracy. Investigation of the factors affecting reading latencies showed that M-J had normal effects of frequency and imageability and no effects of regularity. Like many phonological dyslexics, M-J was impaired in phonological tasks not involving written stimuli. The implications of this pattern of results for theories of reading development and for recent computational models of skilled reading are considered.