Effects of display factors on Chinese proofreading performance and preferences

The effects of text direction of different text lengths on Chinese reading

This study investigates the effects of text direction (horizontal and vertical) and length (long and short) on Chinese reading performance. The experiment enrolled 68 university students aged 19-29 years who were asked to read articles. We recorded reading times and measured recall after reading using a memory test and measured task load using the NASA-TLX scale. The results show that horizontal text was read faster than vertical text. When reading long texts, horizontal reading has a better memory effect than vertical reading. When reading short texts, the effect of text direction on memory was not significant. Moreover, the mental, physical, and temporal demands of horizontal text were lower than those of vertical text. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of text direction, provide valuable suggestions for Chinese typography, and help readers obtain better reading outcomes.

Developing inclusive lateral layouts for students with dyslexia - Chinese reading materials as an example

BACKGROUND/AIM

Students with learning disabilities have difficulties in reading abilities; however, their IQ is no less than that of ordinary students of the same age. This study investigated and developed three articles as the author and schoolteachers developed reading materials. Article A is with a standard layout; Article B is with keywords of various font sizes, and Article C is with a related illustration.

METHODS

Data of eye movements and reading tests from thirty students wherein 15 participants have dyslexia were collected. An eye-tracking methodology was employed to assess the dyslexics' students reading patterns and behavior.

RESULTS

ANOVA analysis shows differences in reading test performance among students for Article A with usual layout [F (1, 28) = 133.16, p = 0.000], but no significant differences for the other two articles. Based on the gaze map analysis, Article C (with illustration) can improve the reading completeness of the dyslexic students (eight out of fifteen dyslexic students had completed the reading during our experiment) than Article A and Article B.

CONCLUSION

The results affirm that special layouts and narrative writing styles can improve the reading attention of students with dyslexia. This study's results and conclusions can reference future teaching materials or lesson preparation using lateral layouts for people with dyslexia.

A Field Study of Work Type Influence on Air Traffic Controllers' Fatigue Based on Data-Driven PERCLOS Detection

The fatigue of air traffic controllers (ATCOs) on duty seriously threatens air traffic safety and needs to be managed. ATCOs perform several different types of work, with each type of work having different characteristics. Nonetheless, the influence of work type on an ATCO’s fatigue has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we present a field study in which the fatigue of ATCOs working in two types of work was compared based on an optimized data-driven method that was employed to detect the percentage of eyelid closure over the pupil over time (PERCLOS). Sixty-seven ATCOs working within two typical jobs (i.e., from the terminal control unit (TCU) and area control unit (ACU)) were recruited, and their fatigue was detected immediately before and after shift work using PERCLOS. Using a Spearman correlation test analysis, the results showed that the influence of work type on an ATCO’s fatigue had interesting trends. Specifically, the ATCOs at the TCU who handle departures and arrivals, which include converging with and maneuvering around conflicts, retain normal circadian rhythms. Their fatigue was significantly influenced by the various demands from tasks focusing on sequencing and conflict resolution and by the time phase of a normal circadian rhythm. At the ACU, ATCOs manage flights that are mainly on route, causing monotonous monitoring and routine reporting tasks, and the ATCOs generally have frequent night shifts to handle overflights. Their fatigue was significantly influenced by the demand characteristics from tasks, but changes in fatigue rule were not consistent with a normal circadian rhythm, revealing that the ATCOs’ circadian rhythms may have already been slightly disturbed. Furthermore, the interactions between task demand and circadian rhythm with an ATCO’s fatigue were significantly observed in ATCOs working in the TCU but not in those in the ACU. This study provides first evidence that an ATCO’s work type influences his or her fatigue. This discovery may incite stakeholders to consider work type in the management of employee fatigue, not only in the civil aviation industry but also in other transport industries.

Effects of display curvature and task duration on proofreading performance, visual discomfort, visual fatigue, mental workload, and user satisfaction

This study examined the effects of display curvature and task duration on proofreading performance, visual discomfort, visual fatigue, mental workload, and user satisfaction. Five 27″ rear-screen mock-ups with distinct curvature radii (600R, 1140R, 2000R, 4000R, and flat) were used. Ten individuals per display curvature completed a series of four 15 min comparison-proofreading trials at a 600 mm viewing distance. Only proofreading speed benefited from display curvature, with 600R providing the highest mean proofreading speed. Proofreading speed increased and accuracy decreased for all display curvatures over the 1 h proofreading period. Visual discomfort, visual fatigue, and mental workload increased during the first 15 min of proofreading. A decrease in critical fusion frequency during that period indicated increases in visual fatigue and mental workload. A short break between 15 min proofreading tasks could be considered to prevent further degradation of task performance and ocular health.

Visual requirement for Chinese reading with normal vision

OBJECTIVES

Reading performance has been considered as an effective functional endpoint for low vision. Contrary to many extensive studies for reading performance in English, there are few systematic studies for Chinese reading.

METHODS

In the present study, the reading performance of 30 normally sighted Chinese college students was systematically investigated. All participants passed the equivalent test of Cambridge ESOL PET in China. The reading speeds for Chinese and English text at a variety of text sizes were measured with rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The threshold acuities for Chinese characters and English letters were measured. Maximum reading speed, critical font size, and critical acuity reserve were derived according to the individual's reading speed curve.

RESULTS

The maximum reading speed for Chinese characters was 259.5 ± 38.2 characters/min, which was significantly faster than that for English letters (135.7 ± 18.5 words/min, p = 2.8 × 10^-18 ). The critical font size for Chinese characters was larger than that for English letters (24.2 ± 2.8 arcmin vs. 20.7 ± 1.0 arcmin, p = 1.6 × 10^-7 ). Interestingly, the critical acuity reserve was similar for these two languages (3.4 ± 0.4 for Chinese and 3.4 ± 0.2 for English, p = 0.4).

CONCLUSION

The present study provides the first step for establishing visual functional endpoints for Chinese reading. Our findings pose rigorous constrains on present theories in language information processing and brain plasticity.

To space or not space? Interword spacing effects on Chinese children's reading materials

This study investigated different Chinese on-screen text layouts to see if they improved the reading speed and comprehension of Taiwanese children. A number of different experimental treatments were used. These were: interword spacing (unspaced, semi-spaced and fully-spaced), text difficulty (easy and difficult) and text direction (vertical and horizontal). The experiment involved 84 children aged between 10 and 11 years old. In the experiment the children were asked to read articles. The time they took to read these articles was recorded. The children also partook in comprehension tests to determine how much they had understood about the articles they had read. The results showed that horizontal text was read more quickly than vertical text and was better comprehended. The results also showed that fully-spaced difficult text was read more quickly than semi-spaced difficult text, and unspaced difficult text was also better comprehended. Practitioner Summary: This experiment was conducted to explore the affects of interword spacing, text direction and text difficulty on the reading speeds and comprehension of on-screen traditional Chinese characters by Taiwanese children. It found that fully-spaced, horizontal text was the quickest and most comprehendible to read, regardless of text difficulty.

Effects of anomalous characters and small stroke omissions on eye movements during the reading of Chinese sentences

We investigated the influence of typographical errors (typos) on eye movements and word recognition in Chinese reading. Participants' eye movements were tracked as they read sentences in which the target words were presented (1) normally, (2) with the initial stroke of the first characters removed (the omitted stroke condition) or (3) the first characters replaced by anomalous characters (the anomalous character condition). The results indicated that anomalous characters caused longer fixation durations and shorter outgoing forward saccade lengths than the correct words. This finding is consistent with the prediction of the theory of the processing-based strategy. Additionally, anomalous characters strongly disrupted lexical processing and whole sentence comprehension, but small stroke omissions did not. Implications of the effect of processing difficulty on forward saccade targeting for models of eye movement control during Chinese reading are discussed.

Effects of line length, line spacing, and line number on proofreading performance and scrolling of Chinese text

OBJECTIVE

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects and interactions of line length, line number, and line spacing on Chinese screen-based proofreading performance and amount of scrolling.

BACKGROUND

Proofreading is an important process, and much of it is now done on screen. The Chinese language is increasingly important, but very little work has been done on the factors that affect proofreading performance for Chinese passages.

METHOD

Three display factors related to screen size, namely line length, line number, and line spacing, were selected to be investigated in an experiment to determine their effects on proofreading performance and amount of scrolling. Correlations between proofreading performance in time and accuracy and scrolling amount were also analyzed.

RESULTS

The results showed that line number and line spacing had significant main and interaction effects on both proofreading time and detection rate. Line length and line number influenced scrolling amount significantly, but there was no interaction effect for scrolling. Scrolling amount was negatively correlated with proofreading time and typo detection rate such that more scrolling movement was associated with faster proofreading, but lower detection rate. There was a trade-off between time and accuracy.

CONCLUSION

For balancing time and detection rate and improving performance for on-screen Chinese proofreading, the display setting of medium line length (36 characters per line) with four lines and 1.5 line spacing should be used.

APPLICATION

The findings provide information and recommendations for display factors and the screen design that should prove useful for improving proofreading time and accuracy.