Stripes within words affect reading.
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.
Wilkins
Arnold J
AJ
Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK. arnold@essex.ac.uk
Smith
Jennifer
J
Willison
Clare K
CK
Beare
Tom
T
Boyd
Alexandra
A
Hardy
Gemma
G
Mell
Louise
L
Peach
Charlotte
C
Harper
Samantha
S
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