Cognitive Abilities in Families with Reading Disabled Children

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Abstract
Psychometric test data were obtained from 125 reading disabled children, their parents and siblings, and the members of 125 matched control families (total N = 1,044). Principal component analysis of eight tests common to all age groups yielded three readily interpretable ability dimensions—reading, spatial/ reasoning, and coding/speed. Reading disabled children obtained significantly lower scores than control children on all three measures; however, the largest difference was for reading. Both siblings and parents of reading disabled children manifested deficits on the reading and coding/speed dimensions. With regard to the reading measure in siblings, a significant interaction between sex and family type indicated that brothers of reading disabled children were more affected than sisters. Sex differences for spatial/reasoning and coding/speed were significant for all three comparisons (reading disabled children versus controls, parents, and siblings). Males obtained higher spatial/reasoning scores than females but lower scores for coding/speed. Results of this study conclusively demonstrate the familial nature of reading disability and provide evidence for the presence of symbolic processing deficits.

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