According to current theories of reading, the reader's saccades are guided primarily by spaces between words, clearly the most prominent visual feature in most modern texts. This belief was investigated by recording eye movements with unprecedented accuracy and precision while subjects read spaced and unspaced passages both silently and aloud. Modest increases in fixation durations and decrease...

The prospect of speed reading--reading at an increased speed without any loss of comprehension--has undeniable appeal. Speed reading has been an intriguing concept for decades, at least since Evelyn Wood introduced her Reading Dynamics training program in 1959. It has recently increased in popularity, with speed-reading apps and technologies being introduced for smartphones and digital devices....

In two experiments, we investigated the contextual interference effect within the perceptual span in reading Japanese text by using the moving window paradigm (McConkie & Rayner, 1975). There were four conditions involving different kinds of peripheral text: asterisk, random string, sentence, and control. The results revealed that the efficiency of reading the central text was degraded when the...

This paper reports findings from a case study that investigated the Chinese reading strategies of English speaking learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL). We focused on CFL learners’ reading of different genres in two different formats, paper-based format and computer-based hypertext format (henceforth hypertext format). Since Chinese characters are categorized in deep orthography, whi...

Background: The Visagraph II is used to evaluate eye movements made while a subject silently reads one or more standardized paragraphs. The Visagraph II is not currently available for use with Japanese text. This study was designed to: 1) determine the reliability and repeatability of data obtained while native Japanese readers read texts written in Japanese; 2) identify and quantify eye moveme...

The main objective of this work is to determine the reading performance of operators’ under different viewing angles of a desktop computer. The effects of text/background color, viewing distance and character size on the speed of reading were investigated. The text and/or the background color combination were varied, with constant luminance contrast. Performance was recorded in terms of words p...

This quasi-experimental mixed methods study examined the use of ereaders during guided reading instruction and its impact on 5th grade students’ reading motivation, attitude toward reading, and reading comprehension. For 10 weeks, 19 students received guided reading instruction by means of the traditional paper/text format, while 16 students received guided reading instruction by means of e-rea...

This study investigated the effects of illumination conditions (lighting color and illumination intensity) and chromaticity contrast on reading performance with TFT-LCD screens. Results indicated that the illumination intensity and background color had significant effects on reading performance in experiment 1. In experiment 2, only text color significantly affected reading performance. However...