2013 Volume 54 Issue 2 Pages 122-128
In this study we investigated cognitive factors affecting the abilities of early reading and spelling of Hiragana characters by testing several cognitive abilities and the reading and spelling attainment of 145 kindergarten children. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using the scores of cognitive tasks as independent variables, and scores of reading and spelling tasks as dependent variables. For reading, rapid automatized naming (RAN), reversed order word repetition and nonword repetition were significant predictor variables, with RAN showing the highest contribution. For spelling, figure copying, reversed order repetition and nonword repetition were significant predictor variables, and figure copying showed the highest contribution. The scores of cognitive tasks were compared between good readers/spellers and poor readers/spellers. The scores of poor readers/spellers in RAN, phonological tasks, figure copying and immediate recall were significantly lower than those of good readers/spellers. These findings suggest that automatization, auditory processing ability and visual cognitive ability are necessary for reading and spelling in kindergarten children, and that visual cognitive ability is more important for spelling than for reading.
