A study by Georgiou et al., Why is Rapid Automatized Naming Related to Reading? (2013), investigates why rapid automatized naming (RAN)—the ability to quickly name familiar visual items like digits or objects—is so strongly related to reading ability.
Although numerous studies have established this correlation, the mechanisms behind the relationship remain unclear. Georgiou and colleagues aimed to clarify this by manipulating factors at the input (stimulus), processing, and output (response) stages of RAN tasks.
A total of 130 Greek-speaking children in Grades 2 and 6 participated. They were assessed using several RAN formats, including:
- Serial RAN (naming repeated items in rows),
- Discrete RAN (one item at a time),
- Cancelation tasks (crossing out target items),
- Yes/No tasks (responding “yes” or “no” to target items), and
- Standard reading fluency measures (both oral and silent).
Key findings
- Serial processing matters. Only serial RAN significantly predicted reading fluency in both grades. This suggests that processing and naming items in a rapid, left-to-right sequence is crucial—mirroring the eye movements and rhythm of fluent reading.
. - Articulation of specific item names is key. Tasks that required children to name each specific item (e.g., “apple,” “cat,” “2,” “7”) predicted reading better than tasks that only required saying “yes” or “no” or making non-verbal responses. Thus, reading fluency and RAN appear to rely on similar phonological retrieval processes.
. - Set size (number of different items in the task) did not strongly influence performance. Whether the children named two, five, or ten different items, the correlation with reading fluency remained largely stable. This implies that the phonological encoding demands did not significantly alter the RAN–reading relationship.
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The researchers concluded that the RAN–reading link arises because both activities depend on rapid, sequential retrieval of specific verbal labels. The study challenges theories that attribute the link to general visual processing or simple articulation speed alone.
While the study was conducted in Greek and used reading fluency (not accuracy) as the primary outcome, the findings emphasize that the key contributors to the RAN–reading link are seriality and specific name retrieval—making RAN a strong indicator of reading fluency development.
