title: Stripes within words affect reading.
abstract: In a series of eight studies it is shown that the first peak in the horizontal autocorrelation of the image of a word (which captures the similarity in shape between the neighbouring strokes of letters) determines (i) the appearance of the words as striped; (ii) the speed with which the words are read, both aloud and silently; and (iii) the speed with which a paragraph of text can be searched. By subtly distorting the horizontal dimension of text, and thereby reducing the first peak in the horizontal autocorrelation, it is shown that the speed of word recognition can be increased. The increase in speed is greater in poor readers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK. arnold@essex.ac.uk
authors.forename: Arnold J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wilkins
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Clare K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Willison
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beare
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mell
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peach
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harper
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic