Longitudinal course of rapid naming in disabled and nondisabled readers

The Rapid Automatized Naming Test (Denckla and Rudel 1974) was studied cros s-sectionally in an sample of kindergartners (n = 342) at-risk for reading disability (Study I), and longitudinally in an n = 160 epidemiological norm al sample of children tested in first, third, fifth, and eighth grades (Stu dy 2). Study 1 showed faster absolute naming speeds for those with near per fect untimed alphabet recitation, but the stranger and more orderly relatio n (at r =.31, p <.0001) was between three levels of alphabet recitation acc uracy and the relative number/letter naming speed advantage (ratio of mean number/letter naming speed minus mean color/object naming speed over mean c olor/object naming speed). In Study 2, the number/letter advantage was alre ady strongly present by first grade, and did not increase significantly the reafter, but absolute naming times improved steadily across grades in an ex ponential decay function. In this sample, the relative number/letter advant age was not related to reading level. However, the absolute color/object na ming speed was strongly related to reading level and vocabulary across grad es. Norms for the Rapid Automatized Naming Test based on the epidemiologica l normal sample tested in Grades 1, 3, 5, and 8 are presented in the append ix.