Deficient Anchoring-A Potential Link Between Perceptual and Cognitive Difficulties Among Individuals with Dyslexia

Different theoretical accounts of dyslexia have been proposed over the years, but none of the available accounts satisfactorily deals with the co-occurrence of perceptual deficits in many individuals with dyslexia. This chapter presents the anchoring deficit hypothesis as a unifying, domain-general account for both reading-related and perceptual deficits. After reviewing the research leading to the formulation of the hypothesis, the chapter proposes that deficits in the ability to implicitly use contextual information embedded within stimulus sequences can account for deficits in both the language and the perceptual domains. Subsequently, the putative relationships between anchoring and other cognitive characteristics of dyslexia (e.g., poor resilience to noise, phonological deficits, "sluggish" attention, sensory-motor deficits) are explored. Finally, anchoring is discussed within a framework emphasizing the heterogeneous nature of dyslexia.