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Understanding Reading
Nowhere is the creation of imagery better exemplified than in reading. Reading is first and foremost a search for meaning expressed in imagery form.
The most efficient or Type I readers are entirely consumed by meaning or semantics. Imagery so dominates awareness that upon completion they have no even recall having looked at text. Imagery with its dorsal stream near a metabolic signature dominates.
A mix of ventral and dorsal stream metabolism characterizes Type II readers who consciously look at and convert words to subvocalized speech before converting to imagery. They are fully aware of both looking at and subvocalizing text and rely on syntactic clues to help them create imagery. This slower, more energy -consuming reading compromises comprehension and recall.
The unfortunate Type III reader is consumed with the complex task of phonologic decoding. They are fully aware of text to the level of syllable, so consumed by text, that when asked to name the most difficult aspect of reading, they abruptly retort, “Words.” Their unhappy reading journey includes almost none of the only measurable aspect of reading, imagery.
Inbalance and misapplication of ventral and dorsal stream attention is fundamental to ICONIX cognitive diagnostic protocols.
Type I reading is an imagery dominant dorsal stream activity.
Type 2 reading has a mixed attentional profile, involving much more awareness of text at the expense of both speed and comprehension.
Ineffective Type III reading is a ventral stream phenomenon with decoding, dominating attention at the expense of predictive fluency and comprehension.
The maestro of conscious thought weaves ventral, cone -mediated particles of language, into a dorsal, rod -mediated spatial tapestry to form our thoughts and plan of action. The maestro must receive input and direct the parts of his orchestra while creating a properly time harmony of action. The maestro requires years of training to achieve the special integrative skills required to weave particulate information from all parts of his orchestra into a harmonious functioning whole. The maestro must be very skilled indeed.
ICONIX diagnosis and instructional protocols are designed to integrate these two aspects of human thought to help students skillfully conduct, the symphony of life.
Good, marginal, and poor readers are not separated by intellect or skills, but by strategy. They are simply not doing the same thing. Advances in brain imaging and sophisticated eye movement tracking reveal three distinctly different reading behaviors. We have also discovered that timing, as opposed to teaching method, is the key factor that shapes reading behavior.
Timing of visual maturation is the key factor that causes the three types of reading. Type 3 readers encounter instruction before visual recognition skills are mature enough to visually recognize words, resulting in serial phonologic decoding as the primary means of deciphering words. Type 2 readers visually recognize words but were not quite visually competent enough to transform text directly into imagery and thus learn to use subvocalization as an intermediary, transforming text into speech and then to imagery. Finally, Type 1 readers were visually skilled enough in the early stages of reading instruction to both visually recognize and directly convert text to imagery. All three types of readers are engaged in distinctly different behaviors, directly determined by timing of initial instruction relative to visual maturation. The educational implications of this new information could not be more important. We must prevent reading difficulties by making certain that visual development skills precede reading instruction. Knowing what we now know, the remedial news is also very good and quite simple.
Most struggling students respond quickly and well to reteaching reading in the much easier Type 1 way, while abandoning Type 2 and Heaven forbid Type 3 behavior.
Type I predictive imagers are the most efficient readers; they read with great speed and comprehension; they love to read. They were fortunate to be visually dominant when reading was first introduced. They learned to read spontaneously and built expansive site recognition vocabulary with natural ease. They quickly mastered phonics, which, ironically, was little needed, nor often used. The eyes reveal the mind, as they make very brief fixations on few words. Mostly nouns and verbs, their reading experience is all about seeing the story.
Many people are Type II readers. They fixate and convert nearly all words to subvocalized speech. Type II readers convert text to spoken language before converting to imagery. Their eyes lead, their mind follows. Initial reading instruction came just a bit too soon for them to be visually skilled enough to convert text directly to imagery. Instead, they learn to use speech as an intermediary between text and imagery. They look, speak, listen, and as the final step in this attention -consuming drama, create imagery with what precious little working memory remains. Type II readers are fully aware of their subvocalized speech during reading. Subvocalized speech competes with imagery, impairing speed and comprehension. They make many more and longer fixations than Type I readers. Type II readers labor with marginal comprehension, tire quickly and often reread passages for lack of comprehension. The ratio of nouns and verbs to total words fixated is much lower than Type I readers.
Type III readers are most unfortunate in that imagery, the very purpose of reading is entirely lost to them. These individuals have, due to their lack of underlying visual skill, adopted the ubiquitous advice of nearly every parent, teacher and tutor they encountered along their unhappy reading journey. They sound out nearly all words. Decoding is their primary means of word recognition, and dominates awareness. Reading is a tedious task of serially puzzling out words. Type III readers dislike reading. When asked why reading is so hard, their typical response is "words." By contrast, Type I readers don't even recall having looked at words. They recall only the imagery they created. Type III readers make multiple fixations within words, puzzling their way through the rules of phonics. Each word is a universe unto itself, fluency, comprehension, and enjoyment, all destroyed by decoding. Clearly, the most common remedial approach of more phonics training is as unwise as my strategy of hitting more practice shots with my poor golf swing.
Our methods have proven to be exceptionally successful individually and at school district scale. ICONIX reading and math techniques, founded on the latest neuroscience, have changed the landscape of reading instruction.
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