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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Reading in the dark: effects of age and contrast on reading speed and comprehension.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of contrast reduction on younger and older adults' reading behavior and to examine whether readers rely on word predictability to compensate for poor contrast. BACKGROUND: Poor contrast can degrade text and may influence reading behavior. Readers may compensate for visual degradation of text by taking advantage of word predictability. METHOD: In Experiment 1, 5 younger and 5 older adults read sentences presented with 10 levels of contrast. In Experiment 2, 40 younger and 40 older adults read high-, medium-, and low-contrast sentences that varied in target word predictability (high vs. low). RESULTS: Relative to those of younger adults, older adults' reading rates were more slowed by low contrast; comprehension was less influenced by contrast (i.e., not significantly). Older adults read high-predictability words faster and comprehended them better than low-predictability words, significantly so for high- and medium-contrast sentences. Younger adults comprehended high-predictability words significantly better than low-predictability words for high- and low-contrast sentences. CONCLUSION: Low contrast was more detrimental for older adults. High-predictability words benefited older adults by significantly reducing their reading times and benefited all readers by significantly increasing their comprehension. APPLICATION: The current findings demonstrate the benefit of adequate contrast and word predictability for optimal text design to facilitate both reading times and reading comprehension.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Historical view of the influences of measurement and reading theories on the assessment of reading.

The purpose of this study is to briefly explore the interactions among measurement theories, reading theories, and measurement practices from an historical perspective. The assessment of reading provides a useful framework for examining how theories influence, and in some cases fail to influence, the practice of reading assessment as operationalized in reading tests. The first section describes a conceptual framework for examining the assessment of reading. Next I describe the major research traditions in measurement theory that have dominated measurement practice during the 20th century. In the next section I briefly introduce major reading theories. Next, I bring together the previous two sections in order to examine the adequacy of the proposed conceptual framework for examining the assessment of reading. This section includes criticism of measurement theory by selected reading theorists. It also provides a brief history of the use of Rasch measurement theory to calibrate reading tests. Finally, the main points of the study are summarized and discussed. It should be recognized that this study represents a preliminary analysis of these issues.

Aptitude Tests↗
PubMed1992

Psychophysics of reading. Clinical predictors of low-vision reading speed.

Clinicians need to estimate how well their low-vision patients will perform everyday visual tasks such as reading or driving. Typically, it is not practical to measure task performance directly or to administer a lengthy series of special tests. Recent laboratory research has suggested that some routine clinical data may be useful in predicting reading performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a promising set of simple measures--Snellen acuity, status of the central fields and ocular media, diagnosis, and age--could be used in a clinical setting to predict reading speed. One hundred and forty one patients who entered the low-vision clinic of the Minneapolis Society for the Blind received thorough eye examinations and a test of reading speed. Snellen acuity accounted for only 10% of the variance in reading speeds overall, but played a more important role for subjects with central loss. Age was a better predictor than acuity. A diagnosis of age-related maculopathy predicted slower reading speed than other causes of central-field loss, but the difference was attributed to age. Media status (clear or cloudy) had no predictive value. Our set of clinical predictors accounted for only about 30% of the variance in low-vision reading speeds. While data from more detailed visual testing might improve prediction, nonvisual factors such as age probably also contribute to the variance. Rather than relying on predictions from visual testing, clinical assessment of low-vision reading may be accomplished most easily with a suitably designed reading test.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Investigation of "reading" with FFT analysis of the beta waves in EEG during "rapid-reading"].

The beta waves in electroencephalograms (EEGs) during "reading" were investigated by means of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis method. The subjects who had mastered a "rapid-reading" method, were classified into two groups according to their rapid-reading achievement level: the "under-trained readers" (male 5, female 2) had already acquired the ability of smooth eye movement, but continued to use the mental phonetic process while reading. The "well-trained readers" (male 6, female 2) could understand the contents of the text without resorting to such phonetic process. All subjects were righthanded. The tasks were designed to eliminate the artifact of the eye movement and the electromyogram as much as possible. The EEGs were recorded with twelve channels of the international standard 10-20 electrode system. The relative power value (R.P.V.) was calculated as follows: RPV(%) = [(X-C)/N] x 100(%) where X is the beta 1 or beta 2 power value by FFT analysis while doing tasks, C is the power value while doing control tasks, and N is the value in the resting state with the eyes open. The results were statistically analyzed by paired t-test. The following results were obtained: In both groups; (a) the left angular gyrus was usually activate during the rapid-reading; (b) the Wernicke's center was activated only during reading with the phonetic process; (c) in the well-trained readers the activation of the right visual cortex was associated with some visual imaging during the rapid-reading; (d) in the under-trained readers, the association between the activation of the central frontal area and the rapid-reading was observed. Thus, the following model for "reading" was obtained: Two parallel pathways seem important in the processing of the verbal information presented visually; one relates only to the left angular gyrus where the visual-verbal information is processed directly, and the other relates to the interactive pathway between the left angular gyrus and the Wernicke's center. Moreover, the visual cortex of the non-verbal hemisphere seems to play some role in understanding verbal information.

Beta Rhythm↗
PubMed1996

Further Evidence That Orthographic Rime Usage in Nonword Reading Increases with Word-Level Reading Proficiency

This research investigated children's use of orthographic rime correspondences in nonword reading in association with word-level reading skills. Experiment 1 demonstrated an increase in the use of orthographic rime correspondences in two independent nonword reading tasks from second to fourth grade. There was no further increase from fourth to sixth grade. In an ambiguous nonword reading task, where grapheme-phoneme and orthographic rime correspondences yielded conflicting pronunciations, the use of orthographic rime correspondences varied with the orthographic onset employed. The use of orthographic rime correspondences in reading ambiguous nonwords was more strongly associated with word-level reading skills than was the use of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Experiment 2 replicated the main findings of Experiment 1 concerning the association between word-level reading skills and the use of orthographic rime correspondences in nonword reading within second-grade children. These findings suggest that the use of orthographic rime correspondences in the phonological recoding process increases with word-level reading proficiency.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Etiology of reading difficulties and rapid naming: the Colorado Twin Study of Reading Disability.

Children with reading deficits perform more slowly than normally-achieving readers on speed of processing measures, such as rapid naming (RN). Although rapid naming is a well-established correlate of reading performance and both are heritable, few studies have attempted to assess the cause of their covariation. Measures of rapid naming (numbers, colors, objects, and letters subtests), phonological decoding, orthographic choice, and a composite variable (DISCR) derived from the reading recognition, reading comprehension, and spelling subtests of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test were obtained from a total of 550 twin pairs with a positive school history of reading problems. Basic DeFries and Fulker (DF) multiple regression models for the analysis of selected twin data confirmed the heritable nature of phonological decoding, orthographic choice, DISCR, and rapid-naming composites. Bivariate DF models were employed to examine the extent to which deficits in the three reading-related measures covary genetically with rapid naming. Significant bivariate heritability estimates for each of the reading measures with the numbers and letters rapid-naming composite were also obtained. As expected, univariate sib-pair linkage analyses indicated the presence of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 6p21.3 for phonological decoding and orthographic choice deficits. Bivariate linkage analyses were then conducted to test the hypothesis that this QTL for reading difficulties is pleiotropic for slower performance on RN tasks. The results obtained from these analyses did not provide substantial evidence that the 6p QTL for reading difficulties has significant effects on rapid naming; however, larger samples would be required to test this hypothesis more rigorously.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Comparison of radiographer/radiologist double film reading with single reading in breast cancer screening.

OBJECTIVES - To assess the efficacy of dual film reading in screening mammography with a suitably trained radiographer as the second reader and to determine a suitable decision model for radiographer/radiologist double reading. SETTING - Three breast screening centres in South Thames (West) region. METHODS - Seven radiographers with prior film reading training double read 17 202 screening mammograms with a radiologist. Screening performance of radiographers and radiologists was assessed taking into account interval cancers. The efficacy of radiographer/radiologist double reading was assessed in terms of changes in sensitivity and specificity compared with radiologist single reading. RESULTS - Radiographers yielded equivalent sensitivity but lower specificity than radiologist film readers. The effect of double reading between radiographer/radiologist pairs was an increase in sensitivity of 6-4%, which was achieved at the cost of a 0-6% decrease in specificity. This was reached by a decision system involving radiologists' review of radiographer queries and recall classifications. If all radiographer queries were recalled a large increase in sensitivity would be counterbalanced by an equally large decrease in specificity. CONCLUSIONS - Radiographer/radiologist double reading resulted in similar increases in sensitivity as those previously reported in radiologist double reading studies. Radiologist review of radiographer reported abnormalities is a suitable means by which to limit excess recall.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Codon reading and translational error. Reading of the glutamine and lysine codons during protein synthesis in vitro.

The reading of glutamine and lysine codons during protein synthesis in vitro has been investigated using an MS2-RNA-programed system derived from Escherichia coli. Under conditions when either glutaminyl-tRNA1Gln (s2UUG) or glutaminyl-tRNA2Gln (CUG) was the only source of glutamine for protein synthesis both tRNAs were able to read the glutamine codons CAA and CAG as indicated by the incorporation of labeled glutamine into the pertinent coat protein tryptic peptides. On the other hand, when the two glutamine tRNAs competed for the codon CAA the reading efficiency of the anticodon s2UUG, which reads the codon according to the wobble rules, was almost 40 times higher than that of the competing anticodon CUG, which reads the codon by "two out of three," i.e. it cannot form a regular base pair with the third codon position. In reading the codon CAG the anticodon CUG was approximately eight times more efficient than the anticodon s2UUG. The lysyl-tRNA1Lys (CUU) could not alone sustain any detectable coat protein synthesis in the MS2 system indicating that there was no significant reading of the lysine codon AAA. This conclusion is supported by the outcome of experiments where lysyl-tRNA1Lys (CUU) and lysyl-tRNA2Lys (s2UUU) competed for the codon AAA. The reading efficiency of the anticodon CUU was less than 1% of that of the competing s2UUU which represents the limit of resolution of our experimental system. When the two lysine tRNAs competed for the codon AAG the anticodon CUU was about four times more efficient than s2UUU. These results are discussed in the context of the two out of three hypothesis, which attempts to relate the frequency of such reading to the hydrogen bonding properties of the codon nucleotides.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1995

Comparing liquid crystal thermometer readings and mercury thermometer readings of infants and children in a traditional African setting. Implications for community-based health.

Liquid crystal thermometer (LCT) readings of skin temperatures were compared with mercury thermometer (MT) rectal temperature readings to assess the reliability of LCTs. Temperatures of 498 children were measured at two points in time. LCT skin temperature readings of children 0 to 52 months were on average 0.50 degrees C and 1.97 degrees C lower than MT rectal temperature readings. A strong correlation between temperature differences and LCT readings indicated that the greatest differences occurred at the lower LCT readings. These conclusions indicate LCT skin readings undermeasure temperature. Some of these differences were due to MTs not measuring temperatures below 35 degrees C. Children under 1 year of age had significantly greater differences than any other age group. Their LCT readings were, on average, 1.65 degrees C lower than their MT readings. Using MTs as a standard, LCTs were 100% sensitive and 92% specific for detecting children with hypothermia. LCTs were 38.5% sensitive and 100% specific for detecting fevers. These results suggest that LCTs leave undetected a large proportion of children who have fevers. However, they are sensitive for identifying children with hypothermia. A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study indicated that local mothers can be identified who understand principles and procedures of LCTs, and accept them for health care of their child.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Read but not write "idea": evidence for a third reading mechanism.

Most information processing accounts of reading incorporate either two or three mechanisms by which oral reading may be accomplished. The existence of a "third" mechanism by which words may be read lexically but without semantic mediation remains controversial. We report data from a patient (W.T.) with an infarction involving Wernicke's area who was unable to write, repeat, or comprehend words of low imageability yet read these and other words reliably; the patient could not, however, read nonwords. As the patient was unable to read on the basis of sublexical print-to-sound correspondences and, at least for words of low image-ability, was unable to read by means of a semantically mediated process, the data from this patient are most readily accommodated by models of reading incorporating three mechanisms.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Early Reading Screening Instrument: a method for identifying kindergarteners at risk for learning to read.

This study was designed to provide speech-language pathologists and educators with a method for identifying children at risk for reading failure. The Early Reading Screening Instrument (ERSI) was given to 149 end-of-the-year kindergarten children. Half of the sample was tested 1 year later with standardized reading measures. Total ERSI scores from the kindergarten children strongly correlated with reading skills in first grade. Reading comprehension in first grade was the skill most strongly predicted by the subjects' total ERSI scores. The word recognition and invented spelling subtests of the ERSI were the best variables to be selected as predictors of first grade word analysis, word identification, and passage comprehension skills. A split-half reliability study of the ERSI showed that a shortened form could be used with the same degree of predictive validity. The ERSI or similar tools can be used to assess reading readiness in kindergarten children so that we can promptly begin an intervention to prevent or, at the very least, to diminish risk for reading failure. For screening reading readiness across different languages or cultures, the content of the four ERSI subtests can easily be modified.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1998

The variants of reading epilepsy. A clinical and video-EEG study of 17 patients with reading-induced seizures.

We present the clinical and electrographic data of 17 patients with reading-induced seizures documented with ictal video-EEG studies during provocation with language related tasks. The median age at onset was 15 years (range 11-22 years) and the male:female ratio was 2.4. Fourteen patients had no spontaneous seizures of any type while the remaining three had infrequent generalized tonic-clonic seizures during nocturnal sleep. Two distinct electroclinical ictal patterns were confirmed on video-EEG analysis. (i) Fifteen patients had reading-induced jerks which invariably involved the region of the jaw but also included the upper limbs in five of them. Ictal EEG discharges were noted in 12 patients; these were brief but varied in terms of morphology and spatial distribution, with a clear tendency for left-sided predominance. All but one of these patients had similar myoclonic seizures induced by linguistic activities other than reading, the phenomenon probably justifying the term 'language-induced epilepsy'. Some patients had evidence of transient cognitive impairment associated with the reading-induced jaw or limb jerks. Three patients had a sibling with reading epilepsy but there was no other family history of epileptic seizures. (ii) Two patients had reading-provoked paroxysmal alexia without motor symptoms, associated with prolonged focal ictal EEG abnormalities. Reading provoked a subclinical, continuous and reproducible EEG activation over the left posterior temporal area. We propose that ictogenesis in reading or language-induced epilepsy is based on the reflex activation of a hyperexcitable network that subserves the function of speech and extends over multiple cerebral areas on both hemispheres. The parts of this network responding to the stimulus may, secondarily, drive the relative motor areas producing the typical regional myoclonus. This network hyperexcitability can be genetically determined and its clinical expression is age-related.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

"Paired reading" tuition: a preliminary report on a technique for cases of reading deficit.

A simple and flexible reading tuition procedure is described, incorporating simultaneous reading and verbally reinforced individual reading, utilizing any reading material of the child's choice, and maximizing continuous adaptation to individual reading behaviour. Three reading-deficient children tutored by "paired reading" are presented, indicating a clear increase in the percentage of words correctly read and reaching statistical significance over twelve hours of tuition.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1984

The impact of phonemic processing instruction on the reading achievement of reading-disabled children.

It is hypothesized that a phonemic processing deficit is a primary causal factor in the reading problems of many children with developmental dyslexia. An instructional model which emphasizes phonics instruction as a key in the treatment of children with reading disorders is presented. Procedures for the application of this model in a parent-involvement clinic program are described. Results from two typical children from the clinic sample who had received treatment for more than a year are presented. One Fourth-Grade child, who began the program with a 1 1/2-year reading deficit, was reading grade-appropriate material and scoring about 1 year above grade-norms on a standardized test after 14 months of clinic treatment. The second child began the treatment program as a Sixth Grader who was virtually a non-reader. After 1 1/2 years of intervention, this child had attained a Third-Grade reading level, but was still nearly 4 years behind in reading. The pretest error responses to individual words made by both children are reviewed to demonstrate the underlying phonetic deficiency--an apparent difficulty with vowel sound correspondence. Averaged reading achievement results from 13 children who had received 3 months of instruction in an experimental study in which the instructional model is being used are presented. Results indicate a dramatic change in the children's rate of reading achievement during treatment. The children were divided into three groups on the basis of a measure of the transfer of phonic skills: normal transfer, poor transfer which improved dramatically in the first 3 months of treatment, and poor transfer which failed to improve. Analysis of the achievement data of these three groups indicates that the second group improved more rapidly than did the other two groups. It is suggested that further analyses of phonic transfer data may prove to be very instructive concerning the causes and treatment of developmental dyslexia.

Achievement↗
PubMed1992

Time engaged in reading. A critical factor in reading achievement.

The reading achievement of deaf children may be low not only as a result of factors related to the hearing loss, such as a lag in language development. Environmental factors such as the quantity and quality of reading instruction, for example, may also cause low reading achievement. This study looked at the amount of time spent reading and the types of teacher interactions during reading instruction in classrooms at a school for deaf children and associated satellite classes in New Zealand. It was found that the deaf children spent very low levels of time engaged in reading and were subjected to teacher interactions that may inhibit the development of meaning-based reading skills. The quantity and quality of reading instruction for deaf children may differ from that experienced by most hearing children in New Zealand.

Audiovisual Aids↗
PubMed1989

The direct access method of teaching reading and the diagnosis and remediation of reading disability.

A distinction among reading disabled children based on whether phonetic or semantic deficits predominate has important implications for remediation. Two kinds of reading disability are related to two distinct aspects of the indirect phonological approach used in the vast majority of reading instructions. This approach to determining the meaning is a conversion of the written form of a word to its phonetic counterpart, making the comprehension auditory. Phonetic reading disabled children have a difficulty with the first step in the process, converting the written word to its sound. Semantic reading disabled children can convert the word to its sound, but this does not lead to determining meaning. Significant gains in performance, may occur by using a direct access to meaning, rather than through the intermediary of sound. The Direct Access approach to reading has one premise: Do not use a "word to sound to meaning" approach. The results of a demonstration project indicate the Direct Access approach to reading can be very useful for many reading disabled children.

Child↗