Shorter Lines Facilitate Reading in Those Who Struggle
Figure 7
Extra letter spacing slows reading for those with low VAS.
Interaction of Crowding and global report (VAS) is plotted for RATE, a measure of reading speed (see Fig. 4). A significant interaction of Crowding*VAS was observed when RATE was taken as the dependent variable. VAS is the number of letters correctly identified on a six-letter global report paradigm. Letter spacing makes little difference for those with high VAS scores. However, those with low VAS scores read faster using normal spacing. This suggests that increased letter spacing impedes oculomotor dynamics in readers likely to be characterized as most impaired. (Confidence intervals indicated as in Fig. 6). The graph is based on the POD and HAND conditions and median values of the continuous variables not part of the interaction.)