Good and Poor Readers’ Word Naming Time, Memory Span, and Story Recall

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Abstract
Good and poor readers in fifth grade were compared for naming time for a series of one- to three-syllable words, memory span for words, and story recall. The words and stories were presented for reading in one condition and listening in the other. The good readers named three-syllable words faster than poor readers, and had a longer memory span for both visual and auditory presentation. Of theoretical interest is the negative relationship between word naming speed and memory span. Good readers should be able to identify words faster, and consequently should have more capacity for the intergration of information in the working memory. This would also predict better story recall for good readers. Our results showed that good readers recalled more detailed information in stories, with no difference between listening and reading, and their pattern of recall followed the same story-grammar categories as poor readers’.