Processing of visual contour orientation information in normal and disabled reading children.

Four experiments comparing the processing of contour orientation information in normal and specific reading disabled children were conducted. The first two experiments demonstrated that the reading disabled subjects had significantly longer visual information store durations than did the control subjects. In addition differences in visual information store durations for different orientations were found between the two groups. The final two experiments investigated processing of contour orientation information in the visual cortex. Results of Experiment IV suggested that the two groups differ in their processing of information in the visual cortex as well as in VIS. Because of the importance of feature detection in letter recognition, it is suggested that the present results may be important in understanding letter recognition is disabled readers.