Behavioral

Reading Battery

We use a variety of standardized measures of reading aptitude as a part of our work in the BDE Lab. Below is a list of the measures we utilize, a description of their use, and details of their administration.

Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (WJ-IV)
Test of Word Reading Efficiency-2 (TOWRE-2)
Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI)
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing-2 (CTOPP-2)

WJ-IV The WJ-IV Tests of Achievement contains 20 tests measuring reading, mathematics, written language, and academic knowledge. As a part of the study, only four tests were used, all focusing on basic reading skills and fluency.

• Letter-Word Identification: Letter-Word Identification measures the examinee’s word identification skills, a reading-writing (Grw) ability. The initial items require the individual to identify letters that appear in large type on the examinee’s side of the Test Book. The remaining items require the person to read aloud individual words correctly. The examinee is not required to know the meaning of any word. The items become increasingly difficult as the selected words appear less frequently in written English.
• Word Attack: Word Attack measures a person’s ability to apply phonic and structural analysis skills to the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words, a reading-writing (Grw) ability. The initial items require the individual to produce the sounds for single letters. The remaining items require the person to read aloud letter combinations that are phonically consistent or are regular patterns in English orthography but are nonsense or low-frequency words. The items become more difficult as the complexity of the nonsense words increases.
• Oral Reading: Oral Reading is a measure of story reading accuracy and prosody, a reading-writing (Grw) ability. The individual reads aloud sentences that gradually increase in difficulty. Performance is scored for both accuracy and fluency of expression.
• Sentence Reading Fluency: Sentence Reading Fluency measures reading rate, requiring both reading-writing (Grw) and cognitive processing speed (Gs) abilities. The task involves reading simple sentences silently and quickly in the Response Booklet, deciding if the statement is true or false, and then circling Yes or No. The difficulty level of the sentences gradually increases to a moderate level. The individual attempts to complete as many items as possible within a 3-minute time limit.