Laboratory of Optics and Vision, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
Optometry & Vision Science Research Group, Aston University School of Life and Health Sciences, Birmingham, UK.
Clin Exp Optom. 2024 May;107(4):449-456. doi: 10.1080/08164622.2023.2237974. Epub 2023 Sep 6.
Reading performance in clinical practice is commonly evaluated by reading 'aloud' and 'as fast as possible' single sentences. Assessing comprehensive silent reading performance using passages, composed of multiple sentences, is the preferred reading mode in real-life reading conditions.
The purpose of this study was to compare eye movement-based silent reading performance for standardised short sentences and paragraphs.
A group of 15 young volunteers (age range: 22-36 years) read silently and comprehensively in two sessions: (a) a paragraph with continuous text and (b) standardised short sentences. Text print size was 0.4 logMAR (1.0 M at 40 cm distance). Eye movements during reading were recorded using video oculography (EyeLink II, SR Research Ltd). Data analysis included computation of reading speed, fixation duration, the number of fixations, saccadic amplitude and percentage of regressions. Moreover, frequency distributions of fixation durations were analysed with ex-Gaussian fittings.
Repeatability coefficient in silent reading speed was found better for the paragraph (66 wpm) than for short sentences (88 wpm). The superiority in repeatability coefficient for the corresponding eye movement parameters, i.e. fixation duration (35 vs 73 ms), regressions (10.1 vs. 22.3%) and fixations per word (0.21 vs. 0.37 fpw), was even more pronounced. In addition, a statistically significant improvement with the paragraph was found in average fixation duration (19 ± 26 ms, = 0.02), regressions (4.2 ± 7.0%, = 0.04) and ex-Gaussian fixation parameter, τ (82 vs. 111 ms). No statistically significant difference was found between average reading speed with the paragraph (220 ± 59 wpm) and the short sentences (206 ± 57 wpm) ( = 0.11).
Due to their superior repeatability, paragraphs are preferable to short sentences when evaluating silent comprehensive reading. The concurrent recording of eye movement parameters in silent reading further improves variability and could offer an efficient measure of reading performance and a reliable biomarker of visuo-motor function.
在临床实践中，阅读表现通常通过“大声朗读”和“尽可能快地”阅读单个句子来评估。使用由多个句子组成的段落评估综合默读表现是现实阅读条件下首选的阅读模式。
本研究的目的是比较基于眼动的标准短句和段落的默读表现。
一组 15 名年轻志愿者（年龄范围：22-36 岁）在两次会议中进行了默读和综合阅读：（a）连续文本段落和（b）标准短句。文本打印大小为 0.4 logMAR（40cm 距离处为 1.0M）。使用视频眼动仪（EyeLink II，SR Research Ltd）记录阅读过程中的眼动。数据分析包括计算阅读速度、注视持续时间、注视次数、扫视幅度和回退百分比。此外，还使用外高斯拟合分析注视持续时间的频率分布。
在默读速度方面，段落的重复性系数（66 wpm）优于短句（88 wpm）。在相应的眼动参数中，如注视持续时间（35 毫秒对 73 毫秒）、回退（10.1%对 22.3%）和每个单词的注视次数（0.21 次对 0.37 次），重复性系数的优势更为明显。此外，段落在平均注视持续时间（19±26 毫秒， = 0.02）、回退（4.2±7.0%， = 0.04）和外高斯固定参数τ（82 毫秒对 111 毫秒）方面均有显著提高。段落的平均阅读速度（220±59 wpm）与短句（206±57 wpm）之间无统计学差异（ = 0.11）。
由于段落的重复性更好，因此在评估默读综合表现时，段落优于短句。默读时同时记录眼动参数进一步提高了变异性，可为阅读表现提供有效测量，为视动功能提供可靠的生物标志物。
