Increasing inter-word spacing reduces migration errors and improves reading comprehension in students with dyslexia

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Dyslexia is associated with challenges in visual attention.
• Textual presentation can impact reading comprehension.
• Letter and word migration are reported reading difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of increased inter-word spacing on reading comprehension in students with and without dyslexia.
• To explore if enhanced spacing mitigates letter/word migration phenomena.

Main Methods:

• A small study involving students with and without dyslexia.
• Standardized narrative texts were used under two conditions: standard and increased inter-word spacing.
• Comprehension was assessed using standardized questions.

Main Results:

• Students with dyslexia showed significantly improved comprehension scores with increased inter-word spacing.
• The incidence of letter and word migration was significantly reduced for all participants in the increased spacing condition.

Conclusions:

• Increased inter-word spacing is a beneficial text manipulation for improving reading comprehension in dyslexic students.
• Enhanced spacing may alleviate visual attention disengagement issues and reduce text migration for a broader range of readers.