We propose to determine the extent to which, in nonreading adults with mental retardation, useful components of the reading process can be established by teaching relations between spoken words and letters, and between spoken words and printed words. The studies will address basic questions about the processes of abstraction, recombinative generalization, and reading by analogy. They will also address practical issues important to the development of computerized instruction of rudimentary reading skills. We have two specific aims. The first is to investigate the conditions necessary to establish abstraction of onset sounds, that is, the recognition that the same onset sound occurs in different words. The second is to determine whether generative oral reading skills can develop after participants learn to select printed words in response to spoken words. The teaching and test words will be carefully selected to promote abstraction and recombinative generalization of syllable components. In individuals with mental retardation, these are largely unstudied questions. Thus, we seek small grant support for the collection of pilot data that would determine the feasibility of the approach and inform the development of a full research program.
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