Seidenberg and McClelland (1989) developed a connectionist model of how children learn to read. The model provides an account of how children learn associations between the various subcomponents of word identification

According to the model, children acquire associations between the meanings, sounds, and visual forms of words in a particular developmental sequence. Describe the developmental sequence (i.e., the order in which the associations are learned). Discuss why particular associations fall where they do on the developmental timeline.

What will be an ideal response?

First, children learn the associations between sound and meaning. This is because they have years of experience with spoken language before they are introduced to reading. Next, as children are exposed to reading, they acquire the associations between visual form and sound. This is because the visual form is more closely correlated with sound than with meaning. Finally, children acquire the associations between visual form and meaning. Later in development, this path to word reading "beats out" the path from visual form to sound to meaning because it is a faster, more direct route.