Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/18294
Title: Levels of Visual Stress in Proficient Readers: Effects of Spectral Filtering of Fluorescent Lighting on Reading Discomfort
Contributor(s): Loew, Stephen  (author); Rodriguez, Celestino (author); Marsh, Nigel V (author); Jones, Graham L  (author)orcid ; Nunez, Jose Carlos (author); Watson, Kenneth  (author)
Publication Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2015.59
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/18294
Abstract: Visual stress (VS) affects reading in 5-12% of the general population and 31-36% of children with reading disorders. Symptoms include print distortions and visual discomfort when reading, and are exacerbated by fluorescent lighting. Prior research has indicated that VS can also affect proficient readers. We therefore examined levels of visual discomfort in a group of expert readers (n = 24) under both standard and spectrally-filtered fluorescent lighting. Participants rated their awareness of six symptoms of VS under each lighting condition. Under the standard condition, 4(16.7%) of the group recorded moderate to high levels of VS. Differences in symptom levels and reading speed between conditions were analysed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. Under the filter condition, the group reported less discomfort regarding all six symptoms of VS surveyed. The differences were significant with respect to three of the symptoms (p = .029 - p < .001), with a medium effect size in all of them (r = .31 - r = .46) and total score (p = .007; r = .39). Variations in reading proficiency included significantly fewer self-corrections (p = .019) and total errors (p = .004). Here we present evidence that VS-type symptoms of reading discomfort are not confined to populations with reading difficulties and may also occur in proficient readers, and that simple adaptations to fluorescent lighting may alleviate such symptoms.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, v.18, p. 1-11
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1988-2904
1138-7416
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 139999 Education not elsewhere classified
130399 Specialist Studies in Education not elsewhere classified
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 399999 Other education not elsewhere classified
390499 Specialist studies in education not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 920299 Health and Support Services not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 200206 Health system performance (incl. effectiveness of programs)
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

Files in This Item:
2 files
File Description SizeFormat 
Show full item record

SCOPUSTM   
Citations

3
checked on Feb 24, 2024

Page view(s)

2,442
checked on Sep 17, 2023

Download(s)

2
checked on Sep 17, 2023
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.