dc.contributor.author | Eng, Cassondra M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Godwin, Karrie E. | |
dc.contributor.author | Fisher, Anna V. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-18T18:33:35Z | |
dc.date.available | 2020-11-18T18:33:35Z | |
dc.description.abstract | This study used eye-tracking to examine whether extraneous illustration details—a common design in beginning reader storybooks—promote attentional competition and hinder learning. The study used a within-subject design with first- and second-grade children. Children (n = 60) read a story in a commercially available Standard condition and in a Streamlined condition, in which extraneous illustrations were removed while an eye-tracker recorded children’s gaze shifts away from the text, fixations to extraneous illustrations, and fixations to relevant illustrations. Extraneous illustrations promoted attentional competition and hindered reading comprehension: children made more gaze shifts away from text in the Standard compared to the Streamlined condition, and reading comprehension was significantly higher in the Streamlined condition compared to the Standard condition. Importantly, fixations toward extraneous details accounted for the unique variance in reading comprehension controlling for reading proficiency and attending to relevant illustrations. Furthermore, a follow-up control experiment (n = 60) revealed that these effects did not solely stem from enhanced text saliency in the Streamlined condition and reproduced the finding of a negative relationship between fixations to extraneous details and reading comprehension. This study provides evidence that the design of reading materials can be optimized to promote literacy development in young children. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | This work was supported in part by a National Science Foundation award (BCS1730060) to A.V.F and K.E.G. and by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through grant R305B150008 to Carnegie Mellon University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. We thank Kristen Boyle, Melissa Pocsai, and Oceann Stanley for assistance with data collection; Xavier Artache, Marie Shaw, Emery Noll, and Kristy Zhang for assistance with the systematic design of the storybook pages and AOIs; Priscilla Medor, Amy Lin, Rebeka Almasi, Hyunji Do, Graciela Garcia, Sara Jahanian, Elaine (Zhuyi) Xu, Smriti Chauhan, Isabel Rozario, and Matt King for assistance with coding data; and Dr. Howard Seltman, Junyi Zhang, Rebecca Gu, and Dejia Su for assisting with the eye-tracking data preprocessing and analyses; and Maanasi Bulusu with assistance in the design of the schematic illustrations. We are grateful to the children, parents, and educators who made this project possible. | en_US |
dc.description.uri | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-020-00073-5 | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 10 pages | en_US |
dc.genre | journal articles | en_US |
dc.identifier | doi:10.13016/m2tvw8-rkld | |
dc.identifier.citation | Eng, Cassondra M.; Godwin, Karrie E.; Fisher, Anna V.; Keep it simple: streamlining book illustrations improves attention and comprehension in beginning readers; npj Science of Learning volume 5, Article number: 14 (2020) ; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-020-00073-5 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-00073-5 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11603/20084 | |
dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
dc.publisher | Nature | en_US |
dc.relation.isAvailableAt | The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) | |
dc.relation.ispartof | UMBC Psychology Department Collection | |
dc.relation.ispartof | UMBC Faculty Collection | |
dc.rights | This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author. | |
dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) | * |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | * |
dc.title | Keep it simple: streamlining book illustrations improves attention and comprehension in beginning readers | en_US |
dc.type | Text | en_US |