Research Article Analysis and Evaluation

Longitudinal Models of Developmental Dynamics Between Reading and Cognition From Childhood to Adolescence

Teresa Froehlke

Boise State University

Research Article Analysis and Evaluation ED-CIFS 503

Ted Singletary

February

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In this article the authors examined the dynamics of reading and cognition from 1st to 12th grade by applying linear dynamic models to longitudinal data. The longitudinal data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study by S.E. Shaywit et al. was used to correlate the dynamic relationship of !arious scales of the "echsler Intelligence Scales for Children and specific mar#ers of the "oodcoc#$%ohnson &sycho 'Educational (attery$)e!ised reading cluster *i.e.+ Letter$"ord I,+ ,ecoding+ and Comprehension-. The results from this study support that there is a positi!e dynamic relation between reading and cognition in the age groups which were studied. The relationship from cognition to reading is stronger when considering the "echsler Intelligence Scales for Children &erformance and wea#er with the .erbal Scale. The influences from cognition are more e!ident in the following reading subtests/ Letter word Id and Comprehension and less perceptible for ,ecoding. 0n another important finding in this study was that this symbiotic relationship between reading and cognition appear to be strongest during 1st to 1rd grade+ less strong during 2th to 3th grade and wea#est from 4th to 12th grade. The importance of this study shows how dynamic modeling can be used to describe de!elopmental processes and test academic hypotheses. There are many le!els of analysis that can be implemented. 5ne le!el+ such as in this study+ can be used to map dynamics of a particular cognition as it relates to other processes. 0nother le!el to in!estigate is the neural changes that are in!ol!ed in the de!elopment of a certain cogniti!e process. These le!els of analyses will produce a more complete picture of de!elopmental processes. This study supported the need for dynamic modeling to further research the complex relationships in

Research Article Analysis and Evaluation de!elopmental processes.

1. "hat is the purpose of the research+ the research 6uestion*s- or hypothesis*es-7

The purpose of this research was to examine the dynamics of reading and cogniti!e abilities from childhood to adolescence using longitudinal models of de!elopmental dynamics.

2.

"hat type of research is this7 This type of research in this article is descripti!e. selected7

3. "ho or what is the population and sample being studied and how was the sample

The data was collected from participants in the Connecticut Longitudinal Study+ which is an ongoing pro8ect in!ol!ing a group of Connecticut children that focuses on the study of learning and attention and the diagnosis of reading disabilities. The indi!iduals in this study were first assessed in 1st grand and followed up annually up to 12th grade.

4. "hat types of data were collected7

,escripti!e information for each of the selected "%$) and "ISC$) scales and the participants9 ages.

5. "hat methods were used to collect data7

,ata was collected from three )eading subtests from the "%$) *"oodcoc# : %ohnson+ 1434- to compute a scale of )eading/ Letter$"ord I,+ ,ecoding and Comprehension. These measures were collected annually from 1st to 12th grade. In addition to the )eading subtests+ we assessed participants on the "ISC$) *"echsler+ 14;2- at 1st+ 1rd+ <th+ ;th and 4th grade.

=. >ow were the data analy ed7

,ynamic models based on latent difference scores were used to examine the interrelations of fluid abilities and reading o!er time. "hat methods were used and if numeric data were collected+ what statistical procedures or analyses were applied7 Linear dynamic models were used in this research and the statistical analyses applied was the descripti!e statistics for the "echsler Intelligence Scales for Children all the !alues were based on scores computed from Time
1.

Research Article Analysis and Evaluation References %haywit&' B( A(' )olahan' *( M(' Marchione' +(' , %haywit&' %( E( - ../0( Longitudinal models of developmental dynamic 1etween reading and cognition from childhood to adolescence( Developmental Psychology, 43-$0' 1"$.21"/!(