Abstractband zum 16. Kongress des Bundesverbandes Legasthenie

16. Kongress des Bundesverbandes Legasthenie Abstractband
Attentional deficits in developmental dyslexia: Experimental findings on lateralized
attention and processing speed
Prisca Stenneken (1), Johanna Egetemeir (1), Veronika Tanner (2),
Gerd Schulte-Körne (3), Kathrin Finke (4)
(1) Universität Bielefeld, Klinische Linguistik, Bielefeld, Deutschland
(2) Catholic University Eichstädt-Ingolstadt, Eichstädt-Ingolstadt, Deutschland
(3) Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie, Klinikum
der Universität München, Deutschland
(4) Neuro-cognitive Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
Impaired performance in tasks of visual attention has repeatedly been described in
persons with developmental dyslexia, and recent studies suggest that attentional deficits
might causally contribute to developmental dyslexia (overview in Bosse, Tainturier &
Valdois, 2008). The theoretical basis of the presents study is provided by the ‘theory of
visual attention’ (TVA), a framework for deriving mathematically independent, quantitative
measures of attentional components. Previous investigations applied this framework
in whole and partial report tasks and have demonstrated its usability in providing a diagnostic
tool for the assessment of attentional functions (e.g. Finke, et al., 2005). We used
a whole-report and a partial-report paradigm in investigating of a group of adult dyslexics
and a matched control group of normal readers. The report tasks allowed to estimate the
following parametric values individually for all participants: perceptual processing speed,
visual working memory storage capacity and the spatial distribution of attention. Stimuli
were red or green letters, which were vertically or horizontally arranged in the left and
right visual field and were briefly presented to the participants on a computer screen. The
participants reported as many target stimuli as possible in an unspeeded manner. Possible
reductions in the parametric values of the dyslexic group compared to the control
group were taken as markers for the underlying deficit. Results demonstrated that the
dyslexic deficit was mainly reflected in the processing speed and the spatial distribution
of attention. The present findings are compatible with previous studies that identified
subgroups of dyslexia characterized by an attentional deficit (e.g., Heim et al., 2008).
Moreover, the parametric analyses contribute to a specific investigation of the nature of
the attentional deficit in dyslexia.
References:
Bosse, M.-L., Tainturier, M. J., & Valdois, S. (2008). Developmental dyslexia: The visual
attention span deficit hypothesis. Cognition, 104, 198–230.
Finke, K., Bublak, P., Krummenacher, J., Kyllingsbæk, S., Müller, H. J. & Schneider, W. X.
(2005). Usability of a theory of visual attention (TVA) for parameter-based measurement
of attention I: Evidence from normal subjects. Journal of the International Neuropsychological
Society, 11, 832–842.
Heim, S., Tschierse, J., Amunts, K., Wilms, M., Vossel, S., Willmes, K., Grabowska, A. &
Huber, W. (2008). Cognitive subrtypes of dyslexia. Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis,
68, 73-82.
Korrespondenzautor:
Prisca Stenneken
prisca.stenneken@uni-bielefeld.de
0521 106 5324
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