Auditory Perceptual Tasks as Predictors of First Grade Reading Success

Abstract
The study sought to determine the predictive power of a test battery measuring a horizontal continuum of auditory perceptual skills (discrimination, memory, integration, auditory-visual integration) in a first-grade population ( N = 55). Multiple regression analysis indicated that the experimental battery could predict first grade success significantly ( p < .05) when Word Reading, Vocabulary, and Paragraph Meaning were the criteria variables. Sex and intelligence did not add appreciably to the generated predictive equations. It was concluded that reading in first grade is more closely akin to perceptual performance than to intellectual performance.