How does the activity of the reading brain differ between proficient readers and beginning readers?

The activity of the reading brain in proficient readers is characterized by a more automatic processing of text compared to beginning readers. Proficient readers have developed strong decoding skills and can recognize words quickly and effortlessly. This automaticity allows them to focus their cognitive resources on higher-level comprehension tasks, such as analyzing the meaning of the text or making inferences.

In contrast, beginning readers often engage in more labor-intensive processes as they work to decode words and establish letter-sound relationships. Their reading is typically more conscious and deliberate, requiring significant mental effort and attention. Because proficient readers rely less on conscious planning and more on automatic processes, their brain activity reflects this efficiency and fluency, allowing them to read with greater ease and comprehension.

The other options do not accurately describe the contrast in brain activity between proficient and beginning readers; proficient readers do not require more conscious planning or involve more different regions of the brain, but instead, they have a streamlined and efficient neural network for reading that is distinctly different from that of beginning readers.