Rapid naming deficits in children and adolescents with reading disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Seventy-one children in three groups (reading disabilities, ADHD without reading disabilities, and normal controls) were compared on their ability to rapidly name colors, letters, numbers, and objects (RAN Tasks) and alternating letters/numbers and letters/numbers/colors (RAS tasks). Children with reading disabilities were found to be slower on letter- and number- naming tasks and made more errors on all tasks than controls or children with ADHD. There was an age effect for the RAN/RAS tasks, with younger children with reading disabilities performing more poorly on all tasks, while the older children with reading disabilities showed poorer performance only on the letter- and number-naming tasks. (C) 2000 Academic Press.