title: The Effect of Illustration on Improving Text Comprehension in Dyslexic Adults.
abstract: This study analyses the effect of pictures in reading materials on the viewing patterns of dyslexic adults. By analysing viewing patterns using eye-tracking, we captured differences in eye movements between young adults with dyslexia and controls based on the influence of reading skill as a continuous variable of the total sample. Both types of participants were assigned randomly to view either text-only or a text + picture stimuli. The results show that the controls made an early global overview of the material and (when a picture was present) rapid transitions between text and picture. Having text illustrated with a picture decreased scores on questions about the learning material among participants with dyslexia. Controls spent 1.7% and dyslexic participants 1% of their time on the picture. Controls had 24% fewer total fixations; however, 29% more of the control group's fixations than the dyslexic group's fixations were on the picture. We also looked for effects of different types of pictures. Dyslexic subjects exhibited a comparable viewing pattern to controls when scenes were complex, but fewer fixations when scenes were neutral/simple. Individual scan paths are presented as examples of atypical viewing patterns for individuals with dyslexia as compared with controls. © 2016 The Authors. Dyslexia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
authors.affiliation: University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8734-1224
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holmqvist Olander
authors.affiliation: University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wennås Brante
authors.affiliation: Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nyström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001878:Books, Illustrated; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D032882:Comprehension; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: dyslexia; eye-tracking; multi-modal learning; text-picture comprehension