Longitudinal associations between melodic auditory-visual integration and reading precursor skills in beginning readers

Abstract The present study explored longitudinal relations between musical abilities (discrimination, auditory-visual connection) and precursor skills of reading (phonemic awareness, rapid naming, phonological memory, phonemic fluency) in 6–7-year-old children starting primary school. Eighty-five participants were assessed twice over the first school year to estimate the extent to which longitudinal changes in musical and phonological processing are related at the initial stages of formal reading and music instruction. Results of the repeated measures correlation analyses revealed specific longitudinal associations among enhancements in auditory-visual connection skills, pitch discrimination, and components of phonological processing. Moreover, the development of melodic auditory-visual integration appeared to be a relevant indicator of improvements in reading precursor skills. These findings might point to shared integration mechanisms underlying musical and reading development in young readers, which possibly originate in the emergent capability of prosodic reading.