Information processing abilities and reading

framework to explain some aspects of reading disorder. According to the model a majorfactor in reading difficulty is lack of automaticity in decoding, which overloads the attentional system, leads to the use of small, meaningless visual processing units such as the individual letter, places heavy demands on short-term memory, and inter-feres with comprehension. To determine if the decoding is automatic, several simple techniques are suggested, such as listening for expression during oral reading. In order to build reading fluency and automaticity, practice is required, and the method of repeated reading is suggested. Two studies are reported that compared learning dis-abled with normals on classroom and laboratory tests of attention. In neither study were differences found between these two groups of students. Finally, a promising new way to study reading difficulty through rapid sequential naming is suggested. T his article is written from an in-formation processing perspective and addresses the question of why some students experience unusual dif-ficulty learning how to read. An infor