PRINT EXPOSURE AS A PREDICTOR OF WORD READING AND READING-COMPREHENSION IN DISABLED AND NONDISABLED READERS

The relation of print exposure, measured by a revised version of Cunni ngham and Stanovich's (1990) Title Recognition Test (TRT), to word rea ding and reading comprehension was examined in disabled and nondisable d readers, Grades 5-9. In disabled readers, the TRT was a significant predictor of word reading when phonological skill was accounted for bu t not when orthographic ability was added to the regression equation, suggesting that the TRT overlaps considerably with orthographic skill. The TRT significantly predicted nondisabled readers' word reading aft er both phonological and orthographic skills were accounted for. The T RT contributed significantly to reading comprehension once variance wa s partialed from higher order reading processes for disabled readers o nly. The TRT's power to predict comprehension may be ascribed to the e ffects of print exposure on automaticity of word recognition, knowledg e, or familiarization with text structure.