1
|
Lubineau M, Watkins CP, Glasel H, Dehaene S. Does word flickering improve reading? Negative evidence from four experiments using low and high frequencies. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231665. [PMID: 37788702 PMCID: PMC10547553 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Does word flickering facilitate reading? Despite a lack of scientific evidence, flickering glasses and lamps for dyslexia are being marketed in various countries. We conducted four experiments to assess their efficacy. Two experiments involved a computerized lexical decision task with constant display or low-frequency flickering (10 or 15 Hz). Among 375 regular adult readers, flicker noticeably slowed down word recognition, while slightly biasing the decision towards pseudowords. No significant effect was observed in 20 dyslexic children. In 22 dyslexic children, we also evaluated the impact of the Lexilight lamp and Lexilens glasses, which operate at higher frequencies, on reading fluency, letter identification and mirror letter processing. No detectable impact was observed. Lastly, in two participants who claimed to benefit from flickering glasses, we orthogonally manipulated whether the glasses were actually on, and whether the participant thought they were on. Only a small placebo effect was noted in one participant. Our findings starkly contrast with marketing claims that these tools can help 90% of dyslexics, and emphasize the role of rigorous scientific research in empowering dyslexic individuals to make informed decisions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marie Lubineau
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Reference centre for the neuropsychological evaluation of children (CERENE), Paris, France
| | - Cassandra Potier Watkins
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
| | - Hervé Glasel
- Reference centre for the neuropsychological evaluation of children (CERENE), Paris, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Collège de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ewoldt KB, Byrne SR. Colour-cued paragraph writing instruction for students with learning disabilities. DYSLEXIA (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2023; 29:97-115. [PMID: 36697371 DOI: 10.1002/dys.1732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Expository paragraph writing is difficult to learn and teach. For many students, particularly those with learning disabilities, it is difficult to manage the multiple, simultaneous complex processes required for success. And for their teachers, writing is the content area in which they feel least prepared to teach. This intervention applied the concept of reverse engineering to instructional design to teach expository paragraph writing using a color-cued graphic organizer. The study evaluated the effects of using a systematic color code to highlight the alignment of where ideas originate in a graphic organizer to their development into a sentence within a well-organized expository paragraph. Using a single case research design, with a pre- and post-intervention assessments, students (n = 5) with dyslexia improved their expository paragraph knowledge and skills. Percentage of non-overlapping data and Tau analyses indicate a large to very large effect of the 2-week intervention. Results, suggestions for further research, and implications for practice are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kathy B Ewoldt
- Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Suzanne R Byrne
- Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Effects of syllable boundaries in Tibetan reading. Sci Rep 2023; 13:314. [PMID: 36609398 PMCID: PMC9822970 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25759-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Interword spaces exist in the texts of many languages that use alphabetic writing systems. In most cases, interword spaces, as a kind of word boundary information, play an important role in the reading process of readers. Tibetan also uses alphabetic writing, its text has no spaces between words as word boundary markers. Instead, there are intersyllable tshegs (" "), which are superscript dots. Interword spaces play an important role in reading as word boundary information. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the role of tshegs and what effect replacing tshegs with spaces will have on Tibetan reading. To answer these questions, Experiment 1 was conducted in which 72 Tibetan undergraduates read three-syllable-boundary conditions (normal, spaced, and untsheged). However, in Experiment 1, because we performed the experimental operations of deleting tshegs and replacing tshegs, the spatial information distribution of Tibetan sentences under different operating conditions was different, which may have a certain potential impact on the experimental results. To rule out the underlying confounding factor, in Experiment 2, 58 undergraduates read sentences for both untsheged and alternating-color conditions. Overall, the global and local analyses revealed that tshegs, spaces, and alternating-color markers as syllable boundaries can help readers segment syllables in Tibetan reading. In Tibetan reading, both spaces and tshegs are effective visual syllable segmentation cues, and spaces are more effective visual syllable segmentation cues than tshegs.
Collapse
|
4
|
Wang CC, Cheng PKH, Wang TH. Measurement of Extraneous and Germane Cognitive Load in the Mathematics Addition Task: An Event-Related Potential Study. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12081036. [PMID: 36009099 PMCID: PMC9406012 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12081036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive load significantly influences learning effectiveness. All the three types of cognitive load—intrinsic, extraneous, and germane—are important for guiding teachers in preparing effective instructional designs for students. However, the techniques used to assess the relationship between brain activity and cognitive load during learning activities require further investigation. This study preliminarily examined cognitive load during mathematics computations based on cognitive-load theory. We used event-related potentials to compare carryover and without carryover additions under three types of stimuli (uncoloured Arabic numerals, colourful Arabic numerals, and Chinese numerals) to measure learners’ cognitive load. According to the concept and rationale of cognitive-load theory, the design defined the extraneous and germane cognitive load to measure the N1 and P2 components and the relevant behavioural data. The highest P2 amplitude was observed in the Chinese numerals condition as extraneous cognitive load, and the N1 component was observed in the colourful Arabic numerals condition as germane cognitive load. Thus, both components may play an important role in extraneous and germane cognitive load. Additionally, these exhibit negative correlations during mathematical computations. This study’s findings and implications offer insights into future ways for assessing cognitive load using brain imaging techniques and potential applications for brain–computer interfaces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chao-Chih Wang
- Research Center for Education and Mind Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300193, Taiwan
- School of Education Sciences, Huizhou University, Huizhou 516007, China
| | - Peter Kuan-Hao Cheng
- Research Center for Education and Mind Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300193, Taiwan
- Center for Research in Cognitive Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621301, Taiwan
| | - Tzu-Hua Wang
- Research Center for Education and Mind Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300193, Taiwan
- Department of Education and Learning Technology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300193, Taiwan
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Similarity and Dissimilarity in Perceptual Organization: On the Complexity of the Gestalt Principle of Similarity. Vision (Basel) 2022; 6:vision6030039. [PMID: 35893756 PMCID: PMC9326748 DOI: 10.3390/vision6030039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The main purpose of this work is to explore the Gestalt principle of similarity and to demonstrate that the use of this term alone is not sufficient to understand the dynamics of grouping fully and correctly. More generally, this work aims to show that the Gestalt principle of similarity alone is not sufficient for a full understanding of perceptual organization occurring both in the classical and mostly in the new phenomena here presented. Limits and incompleteness of the similarity principle have suggested the basic, more general and stronger role of dissimilarity in perceptual grouping under a large variety of conditions. Dissimilarity was shown as a basic principle of figure–ground segregation, as a tool useful to create at will new groups and visual objects within patterns where they are totally invisible, as an attribute that is able to accentuate different shape components within the same object, as a way to distort shapes and create visual illusions, but also to reduce or annul them and, finally, to decompose, ungroup and reshape single objects. The results demonstrated the necessity to introduce a principle of dissimilarity that is complementary to similarity as already studied by Gestalt psychologists.
Collapse
|
6
|
Rummens K, Sayim B. Multidimensional feature interactions in visual crowding: When configural cues eliminate the polarity advantage. J Vis 2022; 22:2. [PMID: 35503508 PMCID: PMC9078080 DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.6.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Crowding occurs when surrounding objects (flankers) impair target perception. A key property of crowding is the weaker interference when target and flankers strongly differ on a given dimension. For instance, identification of a target letter is usually superior with flankers of opposite versus the same contrast polarity as the target (the "polarity advantage"). High performance when target-flanker similarity is low has been attributed to the ungrouping of target and flankers. Here, we show that configural cues can override the usual advantage of low target-flanker similarity, and strong target-flanker grouping can reduce - instead of exacerbate - crowding. In Experiment 1, observers were presented with line triplets in the periphery and reported the tilt (left or right) of the central line. Target and flankers had the same (uniform condition) or opposite contrast polarity (alternating condition). Flanker configurations were either upright (||), unidirectionally tilted (\\ or //), or bidirectionally tilted (\/ or /\). Upright flankers yielded stronger crowding than unidirectional flankers, and weaker crowding than bidirectional flankers. Importantly, our results revealed a clear interaction between contrast polarity and flanker configuration. Triplets with upright and bidirectional flankers, but not unidirectional flankers, showed the polarity advantage. In Experiments 2 and 3, we showed that emergent features and redundancy masking (i.e. the reduction of the number of perceived items in repeating configurations) made it easier to discriminate between uniform triplets when flanker tilts were unidirectional (but not when bidirectional). We propose that the spatial configurations of uniform triplets with unidirectional flankers provided sufficient task-relevant information to enable a similar performance as with alternating triplets: strong-target flanker grouping alleviated crowding. We suggest that features which modulate crowding strength can interact non-additively, limiting the validity of typical crowding rules to contexts where only single, independent dimensions determine the effects of target-flanker similarity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Koen Rummens
- University of Bern, Institute of Psychology, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Bilge Sayim
- University of Bern, Institute of Psychology, Bern, Switzerland
- Université de Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Koornneef A, Kraal A. Does BeeLine Reader’s gradient-coloured font improve the readability of digital texts for beginning readers? COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
|
8
|
Jakovljević T, Janković MM, Savić AM, Soldatović I, Mačužić I, Jakulin TJ, Papa G, Ković V. The effect of colour on reading performance in children, measured by a sensor hub: From the perspective of gender. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252622. [PMID: 34125863 PMCID: PMC8202909 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent decades reported findings regarding gender differences in reading achievement, cognitive abilities and maturation process in boys and girls are conflicting. As reading is one of the most important processes in the maturation of an individual, the aim of the study was to better understand gender differences between primary school students. The study evaluates differences in Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Electroencephalography (EEG), Electrodermal Activities (EDA) and eye movement of participants during the reading task. Taking into account that colour may affect reading skills, in that it affects the emotional and physiological state of the body, the research attempts to provide a better understanding of gender differences in reading through examining the effect of colour, as applied to reading content. The physiological responses of 50 children (25 boys and 25 girls) to 12 different background and overlay colours of reading content were measured and summarised during the reading process. Our findings show that boys have shorter reading duration scores and a longer Saccade Count, Saccade Duration Total, and Saccade Duration Average when reading on a coloured background, especially purple, which could be caused by their motivation and by the type of reading task. Also, the boys had higher values for the Delta band and the Whole Range of EEG measurements in comparison to the girls when reading on coloured backgrounds, which could reflect the faster maturation of the girls. Regarding EDA measurements we did not find systematic differences between groups either on white or on coloured/overlay background. We found the most significant differences arose in the HRV parameters, namely (SDNN (ms), STD HR (beats/min), RMSSD (ms), NN50 (beats), pNN50 (%), CVRR) when children read the text on coloured/overlay backgrounds, where the girls showed systematically higher values on HRV measurements in comparison to the boys, mostly with yellow, red, and orange overlay colours.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Jakovljević
- Sensor Technologies, Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Milica M. Janković
- School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Andrej M. Savić
- School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Ivan Soldatović
- Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Ivan Mačužić
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
| | | | | | - Vanja Ković
- Laboratory for Neurocognition and Applied Cognition, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Jakovljević T, Janković MM, Savić AM, Soldatović I, Čolić G, Jakulin TJ, Papa G, Ković V. The Relation between Physiological Parameters and Colour Modifications in Text Background and Overlay during Reading in Children with and without Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:539. [PMID: 33922926 PMCID: PMC8146078 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11050539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Reading is one of the essential processes during the maturation of an individual. It is estimated that 5-10% of school-age children are affected by dyslexia, the reading disorder characterised by difficulties in the accuracy or fluency of word recognition. There are many studies which have reported that coloured overlays and background could improve the reading process, especially in children with reading disorders. As dyslexia has neurobiological origins, the aim of the present research was to understand the relationship between physiological parameters and colour modifications in the text and background during reading in children with and without dyslexia. We have measured differences in electroencephalography (EEG), heart rate variability (HRV), electrodermal activities (EDA) and eye movements of the 36 school-age (from 8 to 12 years old) children (18 with dyslexia and 18 of control group) during the reading task in 13 combinations of background and overlay colours. Our findings showed that the dyslexic children have longer reading duration, fixation count, fixation duration average, fixation duration total, and longer saccade count, saccade duration total, and saccade duration average while reading on white and coloured background/overlay. It was found that the turquoise background, turquoise overlay, and yellow background colours are beneficial for dyslexic readers, as they achieved the shortest time duration of the reading tasks when these colours were used. Additionally, dyslexic children have higher values of beta (15-40 Hz) and the broadband EEG (0.5-40 Hz) power while reading in one particular colour (purple), as well as increasing theta range power while reading with the purple overlay. We have observed no significant differences between HRV parameters on white colour, except for single colours (purple, turquoise overlay, and yellow overlay) where the control group showed higher values for mean HR, while dyslexic children scored higher with mean RR. Regarding EDA measure, we found systematically lower values in children with dyslexia in comparison to the control group. Based on the present results, we can conclude that both pastel and intense background/overlays are beneficial for reading of both groups and all sensor modalities could be used to better understand the neurophysiological origins in dyslexic children.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Jakovljević
- Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Milica M. Janković
- School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.M.J.); (A.M.S.)
| | - Andrej M. Savić
- School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.M.J.); (A.M.S.)
| | - Ivan Soldatović
- Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade,11000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| | | | - Tadeja Jere Jakulin
- Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Primorska, 6320 Portorož, Slovenia;
| | - Gregor Papa
- Computer Systems Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
| | - Vanja Ković
- Laboratory for Neurocognition and Applied Cognition, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Jakovljević T, Janković MM, Savić AM, Soldatović I, Todorović P, Jere Jakulin T, Papa G, Ković V. The Sensor Hub for Detecting the Developmental Characteristics in Reading in Children on a White vs. Colored Background/Colored Overlays. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 21:E406. [PMID: 33430062 PMCID: PMC7827774 DOI: 10.3390/s21020406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 01/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated the influence of white vs. 12 background and overlay colors on the reading process in twenty-four school-age children. Previous research reported that colors could affect reading skills as an important factor in the emotional and physiological state of the body. The aim of the study was to assess developmental differences between second and third grade students of an elementary school, and to evaluate differences in electroencephalography (EEG), ocular, electrodermal activities (EDA) and heart rate variability (HRV). Our findings showed a decreasing trend with age regarding EEG power bands (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Theta) and lower scores of reading duration and eye-tracking measures in younger children compared to older children. As shown in the results, HRV parameters showed higher scores in 12 background and overlay colors among second than third grade students, which is linearly correlated to the level of stress and is readable from EDA measures as well. Our study showed the calming effect on second graders of turquoise and blue background colors. Considering other colors separately for each parameter, we assumed that there are no systematic differences in reading duration, EEG power band, eye-tracking and EDA measures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Jakovljević
- Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Milica M. Janković
- School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.M.J.); (A.M.S.)
| | - Andrej M. Savić
- School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.M.J.); (A.M.S.)
| | - Ivan Soldatović
- Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade,11000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| | - Petar Todorović
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia;
| | | | - Gregor Papa
- Computer Systems Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
| | - Vanja Ković
- Laboratory for Neurocognition and Applied Cognition, Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Pinna B, Deiana K. On the Role of Color in Reading and Comprehension Tasks in Dyslexic Children and Adults. Iperception 2018; 9:2041669518779098. [PMID: 35145618 PMCID: PMC8822314 DOI: 10.1177/2041669518779098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the effect of chromatic variations on the reading process with normal and dyslexic readers. We demonstrate that color can induce wholeness, parts-whole organization and phenomenal fragmentation during reading and comprehension tasks within written texts made up of words and non-words in the following conditions: monochromatic (the whole text colored with only one color), word (each word colored in different color), half word (half word colored with a color different from the one of the second half), syllable (every syllable colored with a different color) and letter (each letter with a different color). The dependent variables considered were reading time, reading errors and incorrect answers to a comprehension test. The main results demonstrated that these parameters of reading performance are all influenced by the five aforementioned chromatic conditions. These outcomes manifest similar trends in four groups of readers: children and adults combined with normal or dyslexic readers. Possible applied research and clinical applications are discussed together with some basic questions related to color vision suggesting that the main purposes of color for living beings is to generate wholeness, parts-whole organization and perceptual segmentation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Baingio Pinna
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy
| | - Katia Deiana
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy
| |
Collapse
|