Reading natural ability?
HCI reading
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Language use is natural
All babies babble the same sounds
babble  language
Languages vary (African "click" languages) but all human cultures
use language.
Feral humans, raised in sever isolation have impaired ability to learn
natural attributed to a critical period for language learning.
Reading is learned, not naturally acquired.
Human cultures existed longer before writing than after invention of
writing / reading.
Requires instruction, practice, is difficult. Writing more difficult than
reading.
HCI reading
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Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
Is reading declining? NEA study "Reading at Risk," 2004
1992 to 2002 a 7% decline in reading
2002 47% American adults read "literature.
57% read any book, down from 61 percent. (1992)
1992 72.6 million USA adults did not read a book.
2002, 89.9 million
"This isn't a case of 'Johnny Can't Read,' but 'Johnny Won't Read.'"
Reading is not just in books (eReaders): newspaper, magazines, internet,
signs (ads, highway, maps).
Features and Context
HCI reading
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Feature extraction (bottom-up processing) in reading:
Lines, contours  patterns (letters, digits)  morphemes {walk, ed,
ing}  words {walking, walked}  phrases  sentences 
paragraph
Context (top down processing) uses expectation of the passage topic to
aid (predict) in reading.
When the quality of the source is degraded it impacts feature extraction.
Novice readers use context to understand / read material
Skilled readers have automated feature extraction and benefit little from
context. This requires practice; speed reading techniques
Design flaws and reading
HCI reading
Uncommon or unfamiliar vocabulary aka computer jargon
Hard to read scripts, fonts, tiny fonts
Text on noisy background. Text is the foreground, the background
should be invisible.
Too much text, or repetition of information in text. Determine what is
just enough to present information.
Not left aligned text. Skilled automated extraction relies on left
justification and a ragged right edge (position cues).
Poor design for text hurts unskilled readers > skilled readers.
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Paper Vs Screen
HCI reading
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People prefer to read from paper, even young students.
People remember more from paper than electronic copies of same
document (pdfs). (touch paper, spatial movement of pages)
Mean test scores and predictions of performance (POP) for the three time conditions for
screen and paper learning. Error bars represent the standard errors of the mean.
Engineering students, interrupted after 7 minutes, pressured to read in 7 minutes
E-books Vs Paper
HCI reading
The paper format had a dictionary and study questions at the back
The web pages had implemented a dictionary that was enabled by a
mouse-over function, and the questions were placed next to the text
where the answers could be found.
The participants completed a knowledge test of 24 questions after
reading their texts, and the web page group scored better on 18 of those
questions, and significantly better (90% or higher) on six.
Enhancing the electronic text instead of just turning it into a copy of the
printed version seems to have helped the students to score higher on the
test.
Most of the students said they preferred a web page or a computer
program over books, but they still thought that the written word was the
best way to gain knowledge.
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Alternative reading methods
HCI reading
Rapid serial visual presentation: words are shown one-by-one in
quick succession, rather than being all on the page in a block of text.
2 , 3 time increase in reading speed.
on a smart watch or other "nano" device
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Rebus
HCI reading
Combine RSVP and Rebus reading – hieroglyphics / text mash up.
Iconic images are more conceptual (realistic, observed/learned), words
are lexical (artificial, learned)
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said 'What a good
boy am I!'
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References
HCI reading
Juola, J.F.; Ward, N.J.; McNamara, T., Visual search and reading of rapid
serial presentations of letter strings, words, and text.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol 111(2), Jun 1982,
208-227
NEA, Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, 2004.
http://arts.gov/sites/default/files/ReadingAtRisk.pdf, viewed 11/1/2016
Potter, M.C., Kroll J.F., Pictures in Sentences: Understanding Without
Words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1986, Vol. 115,
No. 3,281-294.
Spritz, Rapid serial reading app, http://www.spritzinc.com/,
viewed 11/1/2016.
Myrberg , C., Wiberg, N., Screen vs. paper: what is the difference for
reading and learning? http://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.236/
2015, viewed 11/1/2016
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