The effects of the reader's skill and the difficulty of the text on the perceptual span in reading

Development of the perceptual span in reading was investigated by varying the availability of graphic information in the periphery of vision. Low-ability eighth-grade readers, high-ability eighth-grade readers, and skilled adult readers read texts presented in a normal prose format, with a single space between words, and texts typed with 13 letter spaces between words. It was found that removing peripheral information by wide spacing improved comprehension for low-ability eighth graders but did not affect their overall reading efficiency (the number of questions answered correctly per minute of reading time). Wide spacing decreased the reading efficiency of high-ability eighth-grade readers and skilled adult readers. In addition, the texts were of two levels of difficulty. It was hypothesized that subjects would employ a larger span of perception with the easy text. Surprisingly, the wide spacing of words did not produce greater decrement fo reading efficiency with the easy text. The findings thus suggest that the perceptual span may increase as reading skill develops but does not change under the influence of momentary task variables.