We report three experiments investigating the specificity and nature of paired associate
learning (PAL) deficits in children with dyslexia. Experiments 1 and 2 compared children
with dyslexia and age-matched controls across the following stimulus–response mapping
conditions, designed to dissociate crossmodal and verbal demands: visual–verbal, verbal–
verbal, visual–visual, and verbal–visual. Children with dyslexia exhibited deficits in visual–
verbal and verbal–verbal PAL only. Experiment 3 investigated the stage of learning in
which PAL deficits arise by separating the verbal learning and associative learning components
of a visual–verbal PAL task. Results revealed an item-specific relationship between
phonological form learning and later associative learning success. Visual–verbal PAL deficits
were fully accounted for by the preceding deficit in phonological form learning.
Together, our results show that PAL deficits in dyslexia are not a consequence of difficulties
with associative learning; instead, they are best characterized as deficits in phonological
form learning. The implications of these findings for theories of reading development
and dyslexia are discussed.