Elucidation of underlying mechanisms and prediction of the effectiveness of reading methods in reading deficits using computational modeling

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K14297
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 09060:Special needs education-related
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: SAMBAI Ami 筑波大学, 人間系, 助教 (60730281)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 二重経路モデル / 仮名 / 発達性ディスレクシア / 失読 / 非語彙経路 / 文字列レキシコン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We hypothesized as follows, based on our research results which were obtained in reading and lexical decision experiments: (1) like the dual route model in English, the reading process for kana consists of visual analysis, a lexical route, a non-lexical route, and an output buffer. (2) The non-lexical route in kana is assumed to work in the character level rather than the grapheme level and to exist as an independent route from the non-lexical route of kanji. (3) Weakness in visual cognitive abilities may impair the acquisition and use of the non-lexical route in kana. (4) In the reading problem in terms of fluency, the reasons for inadequate use of the lexical route may be due to the small size of the orthographic lexicon and insufficient activation of word-spelling representations in the orthographic lexicon.

Free Research Field

特別支援教育、認知神経心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、新型コロナウイルス感染症の拡大により、研究の進捗が大幅に遅れ、予定通り、シミュレーション実験を行うことができず、二重経路モデルの完成には至らなかった。しかし、仮名の非語彙経路に関して、仮名の拗音表記の処理過程をより詳細に明らかにでき、二重経路モデルの枠組みを提案することにつながったという点に学術的意義があったと思われる。そして、発達性ディスレクシア例の文字列レキシコンの問題を明らかにできたことから、本研究成果は読みの流暢性を向上させる指導法の提案や教材づくりにつながると考えられ、教育的、社会的意義がある研究になったと思われる。