Does Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) explain common or unique variance in reading and mathematics?

This study aims to examine longitudinal relations between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading and mathematical competence during childrenís early school years. Measures of RAN with pictured objects as stimuli, of mathematics with procedural computation tasks, and of reading with reading fluency tasks were administered longitudinally between kindergarten and fourth grade in a sample of 378 children. Growth-curve analyses showed that RAN, measured in kindergarten, significantly predicted common variance in reading and mathematical development through fourth grade. Moreover, RAN also significantly predicted unique variance in mathematical development but not that in reading development. There was no evidence of the prediction of mathematical or reading competence to the growth of RAN skills. These results highlight the potential role of RAN in engendering individual differences in childrenís developmental trajectories of reading and mathematics.