Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S L Carmean.
Reading comprehension scores were curvilinearly related to a visual contrast sensitivity measure of 155 elementary school children. Moderate contrast sensitivity for fine detail appeared to be optimal for reading; both low and high sensitivity were associated with lower reading comprehension.
A standard reading comprehension test, modified by printing half of the material on medium grey paper to lower the contrast of print-to-page, was administered to 54 college students, 21 of whom had previously been diagnosed as learning disabled. Comprehension of the control group was little affected by the contrast, but the mean score for the learning disabled students was 10% higher on the pages with reduced contrast. This is congruent with Meares's 1980 clinical observations that reducing contrast significantly aids some readers.
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