Reading acquisition in an amnesic boy : with implications for memory theory and reading theory

This study describes a reading intervention with an eight-year-old boy who is amnesic as a result of congenital brain injury. The subject was a non-reader prior to intervention. Reading and vocabulary skills were shown to be at normal levels 18 months after the beginning of the study. The subject showed preserved semantic memory in contrast to severely impaired episodic memory. This evidence supports the dissociation of semantic and episodic memory systems. The study serves as a demonstration of the efficacy of phonemic decoding instruction, and also provides data regarding the specific effects of this instruction and the process of reading acquisition. Methodologically, the study points toward the value of attending to psychological variables in studies which aim to measure cognitive performance in brain-injured individuals.