Action video games normalise the phonemic awareness in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia

Abstract

Action video-games (AVGs) could improve reading efficiency, enhancing not only visual attention but also phonological processing. Here we tested the AVG effects upon three consolidated language-based predictors of reading development in a sample of 79 pre-readers at-risk and 41 non-at-risk for developmental dyslexia. At-risk children were impaired in either phonemic awareness (i.e., phoneme discrimination task), phonological working memory (i.e., pseudoword repetition task) or rapid automatized naming (i.e., RAN of colours task). At-risk children were assigned to different groups by using an unequal allocation randomization: (1) AVG (n = 43), (2) Serious Non-Action Video Game (n = 11), (3) treatment-as-usual (i.e., speech therapy, n = 11), and (4) waiting list (n = 14). Pre- and post-training comparisons show that only phonemic awareness has a significantly higher improvement in the AVG group compared to the waiting list, the non-AVG, and the treatment-as-usual groups, as well as the combined active groups (n = 22). This cross-modal plastic change: (i) leads to a recovery in phonemic awareness when compared to the not-at-risk pre-readers; (ii) is present in more than 80% of AVG at-risk pre-readers, and; (iii) is maintained at a 6-months follow-up. The present findings indicate that this specific multisensory attentional training positively affects how phonemic awareness develops in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia, paving the way for innovative prevention programs.

Fig. 1. Representation of the timeline of the prevention study.

Not-at-risk group included pre-readers with average scores in all the reading-related tasks (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonological working memory and rapid naming). At-risk groups included pre-readers who had at least −1.00 SD below the mean in at least one of the language-based tasks (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonological working memory, or rapid naming). WAIT waiting list, SNAVG Serious Non-Action Video Game, SPEECH Speech therapy (treatment-as-usual), AVG Action Video game.

Fig. 2. Effects of AVGs upon phonemic awareness.

Mean of the individual gain between pre- and post-training (ΔT1-T0). WAIT Waiting list, SNAVG Serious Non-Action Video Game, SPEECH Speech therapy (treatment-as-usual), AVG Action Video game; Combined SNAVG and SPEECH. Error bars represent standard error of the mean. *p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.01.

Fig. 3. Gains in phonological working memory and RAN.

Effects of AVGs upon phonological working memory (A) and RAN (B). Mean of the individual gain between pre- and post-training (ΔT1-T0). WAIT Waiting list, SNAVG Serious Non-Action Video Game, SPEECH Speech therapy (treatment-as-usual), AVG Action Video game. Error bars represent standard error of the mean.

Fig. 4. The long-lasting effect of AVGs upon phonemic awareness.

Mean in PD at the different time points (n = 33), i.e., pre-AVG (T0), post-AVG (T1) and 6-months follow-up (T2). Error bars represent standard error of the mean. ***p < 0.01.