ABSTRACT: Purpose: The effect of letter-name spelling (phonetic vs. nonphonetic) and the type of text representation (consistent case vs. mixed case) on preschool children’s novel word reading and learning was examined. Method: Thirty-four preschool children who varied in their reading ability and, to a lesser extent, their letter-name knowledge, participated in the study. Four sets of novel wo...

Abstract: While the Internet is a text-saturated world, reading online screens tends to be significantly different from reading printed text. This review essay examines literature from a variety of disciplines on the technological, social, behavioural, and neuroscientific impacts that the Internet is having on the practice of reading. A particular focus is given to the reading behaviour of emer...

Learning often involves integration of information from multiple texts. The aim of the current study was to determine whether relevant information from previously read texts is spontaneously activated during reading, allowing for integration between texts (experiment 1 and 2), and whether this process is related to the representation of the texts (experiment 2). In both experiments, texts with ...

Re-reading has been shown to have a minimal benefit on text comprehension, in comparison to reading only once or other types of study techniques (e.g., testing; self-explanation). In two experiments we examined the effect of re-reading on mind wandering. Participants read two texts, during which they responded to intermittent mind wandering probes. One text was read once and the other twice. Co...

Fluent reading, often defined as speed and accuracy, is an important skill for all readers to develop. Students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggle to read fluently, leading to difficulties in reading comprehension. Despite recent attention to reading fluency and ways to improve fluency, it is not clear which features of interventions that are designed to enhance fluency are benefici...

In the paper, we propose a camera-based assistive system for visually impaired or blind persons to read text from signage and objects that are held in the hand. The system is able to read text from complex backgrounds and then communicate this information aurally. To localize text regions in images with complex backgrounds, we design a novel text localization algorithm by learning gradient feat...

The effects of an advance organizer, a preview of text structure and two arrangements of text material on prose learning and delayed retention were investigated. Text material was preceded by either an advance organizer, a preview of structure, or a neutral control passage. Two text structures were developed: 1) a hierarchical structure; 2) a hierarchical and categorical structure. Subjects wer...

This study examined the impact of an automated reading strategy trainer called the Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART) for improving students’ reading comprehension of a science text. iSTART is an interactive trainer that utilizes animated agents to provide reading strategy instruction. The program contains both vicarious and interactive modules that provide ad...

Horizontally scrolling text is, in theory, ideally suited to enhance viewing strategies recommended to improve reading performance under conditions of central vision loss such as macular disease, although it is largely unproven in this regard. This study investigated if the use of scrolling text produced an observable improvement in reading performed under conditions of eccentric viewing in an ...