Increased Reading Speed Research Articles

Towards an easier way to measure the visual span

Pelli, D. G. (2009), Towards an easier way to measure the visual span. Vision Sciences Society, Naples, Florida, May 9-14, 2009. Summary: The “visual span” is defined as the number of letters, in a line of text, that one can identify without moving one’s eyes. While reading, people advance their eyes by a distance roughly equal to the visual span, five times per second. Thus, the tenfold increase in reading speed during childhood implies a proportional increase in the visual span, and there are some data to support this (reviewed in Pelli & Tillman, 2008, Nature Neuroscience). In normal adults, the vi-

Neural activations measured by fMRI during reading novels at ordinary and rapid speeds

Event Abstract Back to Event Neural activations measured by fMRI during reading novels at ordinary and rapid speeds Norio FujiMaki1*, Shinji Munetsuna2, Toyofumi Sasaki3, Tomoe Hayakawa4, Aya Ihara1, Qiang Wei1, Yasushi Terazono1 and Tsutomu Murata1 1 National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan 2 Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan 3 OMOIGANE Co. Ltd, Japan 4 Teikyo University, Japan Human beings can read sentences at high speeds of greater than several words per second. While reading each word, readers access their lexical knowledge and execute syntactic processes to comprehend the meanings of sentences. To understand the neural processes involved in reading, it is important to investigate the dependence of neural activation on reading speed. Unlike previous neuroimaging studies with word-by-word presentation at a low rate (< 120 words per minute (wpm)), we measured neural activations during natural-style reading with multiple-sentence presentation at a high rate (> 300 wpm), using a functional magnetic resonance imaging [1]. Eight experts in a rapid-reading technique and 11 non-experts participated in the experiment. They silently read novels at ordinary and rapid speeds, and pressed a button to turn pages. The interval between turning pages was recorded to evaluate the reading speed. For each subject, we evaluated activations in 14 areas and at the 2 instructed reading speeds. Activations decreased with increasing reading speed in the left middle and posterior superior temporal area, left inferior frontal area, left precentral area, and the anterior temporal areas of both hemispheres, which have been reported to be active for linguistic processes. In contrast, activations increased with increasing reading speed in the right intraparietal sulcus, which is considered to reflect visuo-spatial processes. Despite the considerable reading speed differences (>1 order of magnitude), correlation analysis showed no significant difference in activation dependence on reading speed with respect to the subject groups and instructed reading speeds. The activation reduction with speed increase in language-related areas was opposite to the previous reports for low reading speeds. The present results suggest that subjects reduced some linguistic processes with reading speed increase from ordinary to rapid speed.

Coloured filters improve exclusion of perceptual noise in visually symptomatic dyslexics

Previous studies of visually symptomatic dyslexics have found that their contrast thresholds for pattern discrimination are the same as non-dyslexics. However, when noise is added to the stimuli, contrast thresholds rise markedly in dyslexics compared with non-dyslexics. This result could be due to impaired noise exclusion in dyslexics. Some dyslexics report a reduction in discomfort experienced while reading and show increased reading speed when using coloured lenses. We hypothesised that coloured lenses work by aiding noise exclusion. Thus the coloured lenses should help performance best under conditions of high visual noise. We measured contrast thresholds for discriminating symbols in the absence and presence of visual noise. The results showed that visually symptomatic dyslexics, who otherwise had elevated contrast thresholds for discriminating symbols in visual noise, had thresholds similar to non-dyslexics when wearing coloured filters. These findings provide evidence that in visually symptomatic dyslexics coloured filters can improve noise exclusion to normal levels.

Neural activations correlated with reading speed during reading novels

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure neural activations in subjects instructed to silently read novels at ordinary and rapid speeds. Among the 19 subjects, 8 were experts in a rapid reading technique. Subjects pressed a button to turn pages during reading, and the interval between turning pages was recorded to evaluate the reading speed. For each subject, we evaluated activations in 14 areas and at 2 instructed reading speeds. Neural activations decreased with increasing reading speed in the left middle and posterior superior temporal area, left inferior frontal area, left precentral area, and the anterior temporal areas of both hemispheres, which have been reported to be active for linguistic processes, while neural activation increased with increasing reading speed in the right intraparietal sulcus, which is considered to reflect visuo-spatial processes. Despite the considerable reading speed differences, correlation analysis showed no significant difference in activation dependence on reading speed with respect to the subject groups and instructed reading speeds. The activation reduction with speed increase in language-related areas was opposite to the previous reports for low reading speeds. The present results suggest that subjects reduced linguistic processes with reading speed increase from ordinary to rapid speed.

Colored overlays enhance visual perceptual performance in children with autism spectrum disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), together with controls matched for age and ability participated in three experiments that assessed the therapeutic benefit of colored overlays. The findings from the first experiment showed that a significantly greater proportion of children with ASD, than controls, increased reading speed when using a colored overlay. This finding was replicated in the second experiment which also showed that therapeutic benefits were only observed when participants were instructed to select colors that improved textual clarity and not when colors were selected on the basis simply of preference. In the final experiment, children were required to discriminate between pictorially presented objects with and without overlays self-selected for improvements in clarity. Participants with ASD, both with and without concurrent intellectual impairment, showed significant gains in performance when using an overlay. The beneficial effects of color overlays and the implications of these results for current neuropsychological models of ASD are discussed.

A synthesis of fluency interventions for secondary struggling readers

Previous research studies examining the effects of fluency interventions on the fluency and comprehension outcomes for secondary struggling readers are synthesized. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1980 and 2005 yielded a total of 19 intervention studies that provided fluency interventions to secondary struggling readers and measured comprehension and/or fluency outcomes. Findings revealed fluency outcomes were consistently improved following interventions that included listening passage previewing such as listening to an audiotape or adult model of good reading before attempting to read a passage. In addition, there is preliminary evidence that there may be no differential effects between repeated reading interventions and the same amount of non-repetitive reading with older struggling readers for increasing reading speed, word recognition, and comprehension.

How many colours are necessary to increase the reading speed of children with visual stress? A comparison of two systems

We measured the increase in reading speed afforded by two currently available systems of coloured overlays: the Intuitive Overlays, which provide a choice of 30 colours, and the Eye Level Reading Rulers, which provide a choice of 5. Forty‐eight pupils from a local authority primary school who reported experiencing symptoms of visual stress were individually tested with both systems in a random order, balanced across pupils. There were no differences between the systems as regards the children's preference or the reduction in symptoms of visual stress. However, there was a significant increase in reading speed with the Intuitive Overlays and no increase, on average, with the Reading Rulers. Pupils showing an increase in reading speed of more than 5% with either overlay were tested again, on this occasion with Intuitive Overlays of the conventional size and those cut to the (much smaller) size of the Reading Rulers. There was no difference in reading speed between the large and small overlays. Participants whose reading speed increased with the Reading Rulers by as much as with the Intuitive Overlays tended to be those who chose a similar colour for both overlays. The general pattern of results suggests that the Reading Rulers failed to increase reading speed because they do not offer sufficient colours and hence the benefits of the Reading Rulers in increasing reading speed are likely to be less than obtained with the Intuitive Overlays.

The case for the visual span as a sensory bottleneck in reading.

The visual span for reading is the number of letters, arranged horizontally as in text, that can be recognized reliably without moving the eyes. The visual-span hypothesis states that the size of the visual span is an important factor that limits reading speed. From this hypothesis, we predict that changes in reading speed as a function of character size or contrast are determined by corresponding changes in the size of the visual span. We tested this prediction in two experiments in which we measured the size of the visual span and reading speed on groups of five subjects as a function of either character size or character contrast. We used a "trigram method" for characterizing the visual span as a profile of letter-recognition accuracy as a function of distance left and right of the midline (G. E. Legge, J. S. Mansfield, & S. T. L. Chung, 2001). The area under this profile was taken as an operational measure of the size of the visual span. Reading speed was measured with the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) method. We found that the size of the visual span and reading speed showed the same qualitative dependence on character size and contrast, reached maximum values at the same critical points, and exhibited high correlations at the level of individual subjects. Additional analysis of data from four studies provides evidence for an invariant relationship between the size of the visual span and RSVP reading speed; an increase in the visual span by one letter is associated with a 39% increase in reading speed. Our results confirm the visual-span hypothesis and provide a theoretical framework for understanding the impact of stimulus attributes, such as contrast and character size, on reading speed. Evidence for the visual span as a determinant of reading speed implies the existence of a bottom-up, sensory limitation on reading, distinct from attentional, motor, or linguistic influences.

Eye-Movement Training for Reading in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration

To determine whether training oculomotor control, without direct practice in reading sentences, could increase reading speed in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Sixteen patients with AMD participated in the study (age range, 65-87 years; mean, 77). The training program consisted of a series of exercises that were designed to allow the patients to practice eye movements. At the beginning of training, the subjects practiced small horizontal saccades in response to cognitively easy stimuli (e.g., dots). The training then progressed to practicing larger eye movements and then to practicing saccades with single letters, pairs of letters, and three-letter words. Reading of sentences was practiced in only one exercise, during the last session of the 8-week training. The difference between average reading speeds before and after training was 24.7 wpm (difference between medians, 17.9 wpm). The increase in speed was statistically significant (Wilcoxon signed rank test = 124.0, P < 0.001). There was no significant relationship between change in maximum reading speed and ETDRS (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study) acuity (r = -0.14, P = 0.76) or between change in maximum reading speed and age (r = 0.25, P = 0.45). The results indicate that a training curriculum that concentrates on eye-movement control can increase reading speed in patients with AMD. This finding is especially interesting, because the training involved little direct practice in reading sentences but instead concentrated on having subjects practice control of eye positions and eye movements.

Increasing Reading Speed by Using Colours: Issues concerning Reliability and Specificity, and Their Theoretical and Practical Implications

By using techniques for precision ophthalmic tinting, individuals who report perceptual distortion of text can often find a colour of illumination that eliminates the distortions and increases reading speed. Most individuals choose green or blue hues, but there is considerable variability. We investigated how specific the colour has to be to obtain optimal reading speed. Individuals who habitually wear coloured filters for reading were asked to read text illuminated by coloured light (without using their filters). Reading speed was measured repeatedly with light of different colours. The colour (chromaticity) at which reading was fastest was consistent from one test session to the next. It was different from one individual to another, but highly specific for each individual: departures of colour from optimum by about 6 JNDs eliminated most of the speed advantage conferred by the optimal colour. It was difficult to attribute the consistency and specificity simply to familiarity with the tint or immediate memory for the colour of illumination. A consecutive sample of 1000 tint prescriptions was analysed numerically. For most prescriptions the variation in chromaticity with different types of lighting was not such as to remove all the potential benefit of the tint, as judged from a model of the effect of chromaticity on reading speed. The exceptions were the few tints that were weakly saturated or purple in colour. Across participants, reading speed was not consistently related to the scotopic energy, to the energy captured by any cone class, or to opponent colour processes. The reading was generally slowest with white light, and not with the colour complementary to the optimum. Explanations in terms of magnocellular deficits and cortical hyperexcitability are briefly discussed.

Eye movement control during single-word reading in dyslexics.

We investigated whether dyslexics make instantaneous automatic adjustments of reading saccades depending on word length. We used a single-word reading paradigm on 10 dyslexic and 12 normally reading children aged 11-15 years. Eye movements were recorded by scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) while subjects read single words of different length aloud. All subjects passed standardized prescreening tests, which included a reading test, to exclude those with discernible deficits of eyesight, oculomotor skill, or intellectual development. We measured number, direction, frequency, and amplitude of saccades, as well as the durations of inter-saccadic intervals, as functions of word length. The results show that word length influences the number and amplitude of reading saccades in both subject groups, but this relationship showed quantitatively significant group-specific differences: Both groups showed a gradual increase of the saccade amplitudes in either direction dependent on word length, but the gain of this function was significantly lower in the dyslexics. The durations of holding phases between saccades were significantly longer in the dyslexics, and accordingly, we found a lower rate of occurrence of saccades per unit time in the dyslexics. Forward saccade amplitudes showed no correlation with the duration of the preceding or following holding phases in either group. The data show that the mechanisms enabling dyslexics to make instantaneous adjustments of reading saccades depending on word length are present but quantitatively impaired. This supports the view that these adjustments may help dyslexics to increase reading speed, but that they cannot utilize them to the same extent as normal readers.

Study of Speed Reading and Comprehension Aided by Prediction, Skimming and Scanning

Speed reading is a method of improving a reader’s ability to read and comprehend a text quickly. To help students learn to accelerate their reading, the techniques of prediction, skimming and scanning were employed in this study. The findings show that the use of these techniques improved students’ comprehension capabilities. The students in this study expressed positive attitudes towards the development of their skills, both in increasing reading speed and in motivating reading with a purpose.

How big does a coloured overlay have to be?

Coloured overlays and coloured lenses can both increase reading speed, but when they do their colour is not necessarily the same, suggesting that the beneficial effects of a coloured filter might depend upon the area of the visual field that it colours. We investigated the effects of overlays on reading speed and varied the size of the overlay and the colour of the surround. Children who had been assessed with coloured overlays were required to read a passage of randomly ordered common words. The words were printed in black ink as a block of text positioned centrally on an A4 page of white paper in landscape orientation. The speed of reading was compared under four conditions: (1) without an overlay; (2) with an overlay of the chosen colour covering the entire page; (3) with the overlay cut so that it just covered the text but left the margin white; (4) with the overlay of the chosen colour covering the text but with the margin coloured a complementary colour, using a second overlay. The children who were using an overlay read more quickly with the overlay; those who were no longer using the overlay did not. Although the block of text covered less than half the page, the colour and nature of the margin did not affect reading speed significantly. These findings suggest that in order to be effective at improving reading speed an overlay needs to cover the text, but not necessarily the remainder of the page, which means that smaller overlays may sometimes be sufficient.

Towards an improved readability on mobile devices: evaluating adaptive rapid serial visual presentation

Can readability on small screens be improved by using adaptive Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) that adapts the presentation speed to the characteristics of the text instead of keeping it fixed? In this paper we introduce Adaptive RSVP, describe the design of a prototype on a mobile device, and report findings from a usability evaluation where the ability to read long and short texts was assessed. In a latin-square balanced repeated-measurement experiment, employing 16 subjects, two variants of Adaptive RSVP were benchmarked against Fixed RSVP and traditional text presentation. For short texts, all RSVP formats increased reading speed by 33% with no significant differences in comprehension or task load. For long texts, no differences were found in reading speed or comprehension, but all RSVP formats increased task load significantly. Nevertheless, Adaptive RSVP decreased task load ratings for most factors compared to Fixed RSVP. Causes, implications, and effects of these findings are discussed.

A high-density DRAM cell with built-in gain stage

A high-density DRAM cell is proposed with a built-in vertical gain device topology. Due to the vertical built-in gain device, this cell exhibits increased reading speed, elongated refresh period, low-power oriented operation, and minor layout area penalty.

Cognitive and biological correlates of response to donepezil in Alzheimer's disease

Twelve amnesics with various aetiologies were compares with 12 matched control subjects on a task which examined the increase in reading speed for lists of words and pronounceable non-words that were shown several times and read twice during a training phase. After a four minute delay the reading speed for the primed lists was compared with that for an equal number of unprimed lists. No non-specific practice effects were observed. The amnesics showed an equal proportional increase in reading speed for primed words list to that of their controls, and, if anything, a slightly greater reading speed increase for non-words. These effects were found even when an amnesic subgroup, selected because its baseline reading speed was closely matched to that of the controls, was used for the comparison. The patients' preserved priming for the novel information found in the non-word list reading task occurred in conjunction with very impaired free recall for the contents of the lists. The effects occurred in patients of all aetiologies used in the study and confirm and extend the findings of Moscovitch, Winocur and McLachlan (1986).

Are the benefits of sentence context different in central and peripheral vision?

Sentence context increases reading speed relative to reading unrelated words. Previous studies of normal peripheral retina and in patients with central field loss (CFL) have come to different conclusions regarding the benefits of sentence context for reading in peripheral retina. Studies of normal peripheral vision presented the text to inferior visual field; it is presumed that most of the patients fixated using retina lateral to their scotoma. The goal of the current study was to determine whether the location of the text on the retina interacts with the usefulness of sentence context. Normally sighted subjects read sentences and random lists of words presented at the fovea and at 50 to the left of and 50 inferior to fixation in visual field space. Texts were presented using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The ratio of reading rates for sentences to random words (context gain) was the same in the inferior field (2.7 +/- 0.20) and at the fovea (2.6 +/- 0.26); context gain was greater in the left field (7.2 +/- 1.22). Sentence context increases reading speed regardless of the position of the text on the retina. Reading rates in peripheral retina are not decreased because of an inability to use sentence context.

Increased reading speed for stories presented during general anesthesia.

In the absence of explicit memories such as the recall and recognition of intraoperative events, memory of auditory information played during general anesthesia has been demonstrated with several tests of implicit memory. In contrast to explicit memory, which requires conscious recollection, implicit memory does not require recollection of previous experiences and is evidenced by a priming effect on task performance. The authors evaluated the effect of a standardized anesthetic technique on implicit memory, first using a word stem completion task, and then a reading speed task in a subsequent study. While undergoing lumbar disc surgery, 60 patients were exposed to auditory materials via headphones in two successive experiments. A balanced intravenous technique with propofol and alfentanil infusions and a nitrous oxide-oxygen mixture was used to maintain adequate anesthesia. In the first experiment, 30 patients were exposed randomly to one of the two lists of 34 repeated German nouns; in the second experiment, 30 patients were exposed to one of two tapes containing two short stories. Thirty control patients for each experiment heard the tapes without receiving anesthesia. All patients were tested for implicit memory 6-8 h later: A word stem completion task for the words and a reading speed task for the stories were used as measures of implicit memory. The control group completed the word stems significantly more often with the words that they had heard previously, but no such effect was found in the anesthetized group. However, both the control and patient groups showed a decreased reading time of about 40 ms per word for the previously presented stories compared with the new stories. The patients had no explicit memory of intraoperative events. Implicit memory was demonstrated after anesthesia by the reading speed task but not by the word stem completion task. Some methodologic aspects, such as using low frequency words or varying study and test modalities, may account for the negative results of the word stem completion task. Another explanation is that anesthesia with propofol, alfentanil, and nitrous oxide suppressed the word priming but not the reading speed measure of implicit memory. The reading speed paradigm seems to provide a stable and reliable measurement of implicit memory.

Prolonged use of coloured overlays for classroom reading

Ninety-three children in a primary school and 59 children in two first-year classes of a secondary school were asked individually to observe a paragraph of random letters arranged to resemble text, and to compare the perceptual effects on its clarity of coloured plastic sheets overlaid on the text. A total of 29 colours were compared using 10 coloured plastic sheets and 19 pairwise combinations of sheets, one superimposed on another. The resulting colours sampled CIE 1976 hue angle (huv) and saturation (suv) systematically and efficiently. All the children who reported beneficial perceptual effects (53 per cent) were given their preferred overlay or combination of overlays to use as and when they wished. When the children were examined three months later the children tended to choose a colour similar to one they had chosen previously. Ten months later, 22 per cent of those offered the overlaps were still using them of their own volition. These children, but not those who had ceased to use their overlay(s), read randomly ordered simple words more quickly with their overlay than without. In a second independent group of children referred to the Norfolk Sensory Support Service, who used overlays routinely, the reading speed was similar with a grey or clear overlay; and slower than with the chosen coloured overlay, suggesting that reduction of contrast was not the critical factor. In a third independent group of children in a primary school in Kent, the increase in reading speed with the chosen overlay predicted the children who continued to use their overlay during the ensuing eight weeks.

Transfer of Declarative Knowledge in Complex Information-Processing Domains

Declarative transfer from one domain to another can be observed in a systematic decrease in the time spent reading an instructional text and processing help during problem solving. Two experiments, done in the programming domain, tested the hypothesis that subjects introduced to a first programming language develop a representation of basic programming concepts that helps them integrate new declarative knowledge from a second programming language. This article shows that the effect on reading was greater for pages that were conceptually close across texts and for subjects who had fully mastered the basic concepts in the first language. A regression model of reading showed an effect on processes that are responsible for the analysis of novel words and examples, whereas general strategic reading processes remained unaffected. The increased reading speed was not accompanied by a greater understanding of the text. Effects of a common programming interface and transfer of procedural knowledge appeared to be negligible on the kind of problems considered. This study supports the distinction between procedural and declarative transfer.