SCHRÖCK, G.—“Über kongenitale Wortblindheit”; _Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde_, 1915. TERMAN, L. M.—“An Experiment in Infant Education”; _Journal of Applied Psychology_, 1919. THORNDIKE, E. L.—“The Understanding of Sentences: A Study of Errors in Reading”; _Elementary School Journal_, 1917. UHL, W. L.—“The Use of the Results of Reading Tests as Bases for Planning Remedial Work”; _Elementary School Journal_, 1916. WHITE, A., and POULL, L. E.—_Reading Ability and Disability of Subnormal Children_; Department of Public Welfare, New York, 1921. CHAPTER V SPELLING I. COHERENCE AMONG LINGUISTIC FUNCTIONS According to Meumann, the whole field of language is a unit, psychologically considered. Reading, spelling, composition, the learning of foreign languages should thus be intimately interconnected for a given individual. He who learns one readily, should also readily learn the others, without notable exception. This view of the close coherence among linguistic functions is borne out, also, by the work of Gates, already cited, in which he found high positive correlations among perceptual tests which use words as materials. We must notice, nevertheless, that the correlations fall considerably short of unity. Illustrative cases show that occasionally children are found who can read well, but cannot spell legibly, though the present writer has not seen cases of the opposite condition, and has not found them reported in the literature. Special defect in spelling will, therefore, be given separate consideration, though it must be recognized that abilities in spelling and reading are usually closely associated. II. ANALYSIS OF LEARNING TO SPELL It is virtually impossible for an educated adult, whose spelling habits have long ago become automatic, to reconstruct from introspection the long, difficult, and complex processes through which he passed in learning to communicate by means of correctly spelled words. Such an adult may gain some idea of what is involved in the spelling process by confronting himself with the task of learning to spell and write words upside down and backwards, but even so the experience of the child is not duplicated. Analysis teaches us that this aspect of linguistic attainment ordinarily involves the formation of a series of connections approximately as follows: (1) An object, act, quality, or relation is “bound” to a certain sound, which has often been repeated while the object is pointed at, the act performed, and so forth. In order that the connection may become definitely established, it is necessary (_a_) that the individual should be able to identify for himself the object, act, quality, or relation, and (_b_) that he should be able to recollect the particular vocal sounds which have been associated therewith. When this is accomplished, the sound has become a word.