Access to semantic representations in reading and cognitive inhibition in students with dyslexia: The contribution of the semantic Stroop task

The current study investigates automatic access to semantic representations in reading in students with dyslexia. Semantic representations could indeed be preserved in these students (Cavalli, Casalis, El Ahmadi, Zira, Poracchia-George & Colé 2016). Twenty-two students with dyslexia and twenty-two students without learning disabilities performed several tasks: rapid color naming, color words reading, semantic Stroop paradigm—i.e., name the color of neutral versus color-associated words (e.g., “bridge” versus “sky”) printed in incongruent colors (e.g., green)—and classic Stroop paradigm. Students with dyslexia performed more slowly in all tasks. The results showed significant semantic and frequency effects: participants were slower to name the color of color-associated words and more frequent words. These effects did not differ between groups, suggesting preserved access to semantic representations in students with dyslexia. By contrast, classic Stroop interference was significantly larger in students with dyslexia, which could be explained by difficulties in the access to output phonological representations and/or by more general difficulties of inhibition.