Measures of information processing in rapid automatized naming (RAN) and their relation to reading.

The letters, numbers, and objects subtests of the Rapid Automatized Naming Tests (RAN) were given to 50 first- and second-grade students. Student performance on the three RAN subtests were audiotaped and subjected to postacquisition processing to distinguish articulation and interarticulation pause times. This study investigated (1) the relations between the articulation and pause durations associated with the 50 stimuli of each RAN subtest and (2) the relations between the pause and articulation latencies of the three RAN subtests and reading. For both first- and second-grade students, pause and articulation times for RAN letters and objects were not found to be reliably related, in contrast to RAN numbers articulation and pause durations. RAN subtest pause durations were differentially related to reading; however, articulation was rarely related to reading. The RAN letters pause time was the most robust predictor of decoding and reading comprehension, consistently predicting all first- and second-grade measures. Analysis supported the view that reading is predicted by speed of processing associated with letters, not general processing speed. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.