Sizer, LauraSabariego, MartaBreen, MaraRose, Madeline2024-06-202024-06-202024-06-20https://hdl.handle.net/10166/6727This study tested the hypothesis that implicit meter can serve as a way to measure oral reading fluency which in turn could predict reading comprehension. By investigating the neural mechanisms that inform implicit meter, it should be possible to measure oral reading fluency. Therefore, by studying the neural and behavioral underpinnings of implicit meter in children during development (6–10-year-olds), it should be possible to map specific neural mechanisms to reading comprehension. Additionally, this study investigated whether one of the specific mechanisms, the LMN component, had a direct correlation on childrens’ reading comprehension KTEA scores. This study found that adolescents are more so successful in sustaining a quadruple implicit meter than a triple meter and are more successful sustaining a slow tempo meter than a fast tempo meter. This study also found that the N1 component matures over the course of adolescence, with it being unobservable in the youngest cohort and fully emergent by the oldest cohort. The LMN component was found to be observable throughout all cohorts without showing visual signs of maturation. Additionally, this study found that the LMN component does not exhibit direct correlation to reading comprehension. Therefore, the LMN component is not a neural component that can be used to measure oral fluency, and therefore is not suitable to measure reading comprehension. This deeper understanding of the neural underpinnings of reading comprehension can then inform future educational policies that aim to promote childhood reading comprehension and provide clear targets that policies can focus on when designing interventions for the vast population of children who are struggling to meet the threshold to be considering as being able to read to their grade level.en-USNeuroscienceEEGReadingThesispublic