Glossary

A

adaptive learning
MindWeavers' adaptive learning technology controls level of difficulty by dynamically responding to user performance.

attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD)
An acronym for academic and behavioral problems experienced by some children.

auditory discrimination
The ability to detect differences in sounds.

C

central auditory processing disorder (CAPD)
A physiological impairment limiting the ability to distinguish sounds.

control group
A group that does not receive training that is used for comparison.

cognition
The act or process of knowing; the various thinking skills and processes are considered cognitive skills.

cognitive ability
Intellectual ability; thinking and reasoning skills.

comprehension
The ability to derive meaning from text; the reason for reading.

D

discrimination
Process of detecting differences between and/or among stimuli.

dyslexia
A specific learning disability that is neurological in origin; a language-based disorder characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities, usually associated with insufficient phonological processing abilities.

E

expressive language
Communication through writing, speaking, and/or gestures.

F

frequency
Repeating occurrence.

G

graphemes
The smallest part of written language that represents a phoneme in the spelling of a word. A grapheme may be one letter, such as d, l, and p; or several letters, such as ch, sh, and th.

L

language comprehension
The ability to understand communication from others, such as speech, written text, gestures, or sign language.

language skills
The ability to comprehend receptive language and use expressive language to communicate. A student who has good spoken language skills will more easily master reading and writing skills.

letter-sound correspondences
The principle that each letter represents a unit of sound (a phoneme).

N

n
The number of individuals assessed in an outcomes study.

neuron
The cellular unit of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

neuroscience
Study of the brain and its functions, especially their relation to behavior and learning.

P

p
The probability of getting the observed results by chance.

phonemes
The smallest distinct sound units in a given spoken language. Individual phonemes are the smallest units in a word that can distinguish its meaning from another word, e.g. the difference between the English words 'pin' and 'bin' is marked only by the two different phonemes /p/ and /b/ [Mathews, 1997]. When added together, phonemes create syllables, which allows the creation of words; for instance, "ox" is made up of three phonemes: /aa/, /k/, and /s/ (English contains 44 phonemes).

phonological awareness
The understanding that words are composed of sequences of sounds and the ability to identify and manipulate the sounds of language.

phonemic awareness
The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the sounds of spoken language.

phonics
The understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (the sounds of spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language). Also known as letter-sound or sound-symbol correspondences.

phonology
The scientific study of the speech sounds of a language.

processing
The ability to accurately perceive and manipulate information. In the context of reading, processing refers to the ability to distinguish speech sounds and identify letter and word forms.

R

receptive language
Language that is spoken or written by others and received by the individual.

S

standard deviation (SD)
A measure of variation from the mean that shows how closely the scores cluster around that mean.

standardized test
A test that compares a child's performance with the performance of a large group of similar children (usually children of the same age). Also called a norm referenced test. IQ tests and most achievement tests are standardized.

synapse
The physical structure that makes an electrochemical connection between two neurons.

W

word recognition
The ability to read or pronounce a word; usually implies that the word is recognized immediately by sight and that the child does not need to apply word analysis skills. Does not imply understanding of the word.