The Effect of Display Polarity on Reading Speed and Reading Error Among Young Adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31584/jhsmr.20241095Keywords:
display polarity, reading error, reading speedAbstract
Objective: The widespread adoption of digital devices has surged, particularly since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Nearly everyone now owns devices like laptops, tablets, or smartphones, offering options for light mode (positive polarity) and dark mode (negative polarity) to suit individual preferences. This study examines how display polarity affects reading performance among young adults.
Material and Methods: Thirty participants engaged in a 15-minute reading task on a laptop with randomly assigned display polarities, followed by a 15-minute break before repeating the task.
Results: Reading speed, measured in words per minute (wpm), differed significantly between polarities, with negative polarity yielding higher speeds (136.27±25.58 wpm) compared to positive polarity (128.42±19.98 wpm), Z=-2.355, p-value<0.05. However, no significant polarity-related differences were found in reading errors, including mispronunciation (p-value=0.193) or omission (p-value=0.113).
Conclusion: Negative polarity displays enhanced reading performance by increasing reading speed; while reading errors remained unaffected.
References
Pandya A, Lodha P. Social connectedness, excessive screen time during COVID-19 and mental health: a review of current evidence. Front Hum Dyn 2021;3:684137.
Sultana A, Tasnim S, Hossain MM, Bhattacharya S, Purohit N. Digital screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic: a public health concern. F1000 Res 2021;10:81.
Benedetto S, Carbone A, Drai-Zerbib V, Pedrotti M, Baccino T. Effects of luminance and illuminance on visual fatigue and arousal during digital reading. Comput Human Behav 2014;41:112-9.
León-Figueroa DA, Barboza JJ, Siddiq A, Sah R, Valladares-Garrido MJ, Adhikari S, et al. Prevalence of computer vision syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health 2024;24:640.
Xie X, Yu S, Chen D. Effects of Screen color mode and color temperature on visual fatigue under different ambient illuminations. Int J Hum Comput Interact 2024:1-3.
Kim K, Erickson A, Lambert A, Bruder G, Welch G. Effects of dark mode on visual fatigue and acuity in optical see-through head-mounted displays. Proc Symp Spat User Interact 2019;1-9.
Buchner A, Baumgartner N. Text–background polarity affects performance irrespective of ambient illumination and colour contrast. Ergonomics 2007;50:1036-63.
Chan AH, Lee PS. Effect of display factors on Chinese reading times, comprehension scores, and preferences. Behav Inf Technol 2005;24:81-91.
Lombardo M, Lombardo G. Wave aberration of human eyes and new descriptors of image optical quality and visual performance. J Cataract Refract Surg 2010;36:313-31.
Somkijrungroj T, Surawatsatien N, Supawatjariyakul W, Wiriyabanditkul T, Pothikamjorn T. Reading acuity and clinical print size in digital device of patients with bilateral implanted multifocal intraocular lenses. Preprints 2024. doi: 10.20944/preprints202401.1499.v1.
Buchner A, Mayr S, Brandt M. The advantage of positive text-background polarity is due to high display luminance. Ergonomics 2009;52:882-6.
Muhamad N, Amali NAN. Digital display preference of electronic gadgets for visual comfort: a systematic review. Iran J Public Health 2023;52:1565.
Muhamad N, Moktaeffendi NH, Azni NS. Effect of display polarity on amplitude of accommodation and visual fatigue. E-BPJ 2023;8:207-14.
Kilag OK, Peras C, Echavez R, Suba-an J, Obaner MK, Mansueto D. Comparing learning outcomes: on-screen versus print reading. IJSE 2023;2:181-91.
Altamura L, Vargas C, Salmerón L. Do new forms of reading pay off? a meta-analysis on the relationship between leisure digital reading habits and text comprehension. Rev Educ Res 2023:00346543231216463.
Erickson A, Kim K, Lambert A, Bruder G, Browne MP, Welch GF. An extended analysis on the benefits of dark mode user interfaces in optical see-through head-mounted displays. ACM Trans Appl Perception 2021;18:1-22.
Jiménez R, Redondo B, Molina R, Martínez-Domingo MÁ, Hernández-Andrés J, Vera J. Short-term effects of text-background color combinations on the dynamics of the accommodative response. Vis Res 2020;166:33-42.
Beier S, Oderkerk CA, Bay B, Larsen M. Increased letter spacing and greater letter width improve reading acuity in low vision readers. Inf Des J 2021;26:73-88.
Ohnishi M, Otsukuni T, Takahashi A, Sugiyama M, Hirakimoto M, Ogawa S, et al. Effects of luminance contrast and character size on reading speed. Vis Res 2020;166:52-9.
Kuester-Gruber S, Kabisch P, Cordey-Henke A, Martus P, Karnath HO, Trauzettel-Klosinski S. Vertical and horizontal reading training in patients with hemianopia and its effect on reading eye movements. Sci Rep 2024;14:3558.
Radner W. Toward an internationally accepted standard for reading charts. Prog Retin Eye Res 2024:101262.
Alabdulkader B, Almatar H, Alshubaili H, AlSaud S, Almutleb E, Alhassan M, et al. Age-related changes in reading performance in normally sighted Arabic-speaking adults. Clin Exp Optom 2024:1-7.
Maiden ME, Ampuero ME, Kostewicz DE. A Comparison of repeated reading and listening while reading to increase oral reading fluency in children. Educ Treat Child 2024:1-6.
Smith KG, Lins JS. Oral reading fluency and comprehension in persons with Alexia and Aphasia. Aphasiology 202;10:1-20.
Hill EW, Long RA, Douglas G, Tobin MJ, Grimley M. Neale analysis of reading ability for readers with low vision: a supplementary manual to aid the assessment of partially sighted pupils’ reading using the neale analysis of reading ability (NARA). Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham; 2005.
Khalid NM, Buari NH, Chen AH. Comparison of oral reading errors between contextual sentences and random words among schoolchildren. Int Educ Stud 2017;10:47-55.
Saadeh H, Al Fayez RQ, Al Refaei A, Shewaikani N, Khawaldah H, Abu-Shanab S, et al. Smartphone use among university students during COVID-19 quarantine: an ethical trigger. Front Public Health 2021;9:600134.
Chen AH, Buari NH, Jufri S. The Development of SAH Reading Passage Compendium: a tool for the assessment of reading performance related to visual function. Int Educ Stud 2017;10:30-7.
Pakdee S, Sengsoon P. Immediate effects of different screen sizes on visual fatigue in video display terminal users. Iran Rehabil J 2021;19:137-46.
Dobres J, Chahine N, Reimer B, Gould D, Mehler B, Coughlin JF. Utilising psychophysical techniques to investigate the effects of age, typeface design, size, and display polarity on glance legibility. Ergonomics 2016;59:1377-91.
Adiele I, Olatokun W. Prevalence and determinants of Internet addiction among adolescents. Comput Human Behav 2014;31:100-10.
Lin MH, Chen HC, Liu KS. A study of the effects of digital learning on learning motivation and learning outcome. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed 2017;13:3553-64.
Eisfeld H, Kristallovich F. The rise of dark mode: a qualitative study of an emerging user interface design trend. Sweden: Jonkoping University; 2020.
Xie X, Song F, Liu Y, Wang S, Yu D. Study on the effects of display color mode and luminance contrast on visual fatigue. IEEE Access 2021;9:35915-23.
Blehm C, Vishnu S, Khattak A, Mitra S, Yee RW. Computer vision syndrome: a review. Surv Ophthalmol 2005;50:253-62.
Lin HY, Chen CH. The effects of display size and text-background color type on the Chinese digital reading performance of Taiwan college students. J Sci Des 2021;5:2_101-10.
Ebigbagha ZS. Colour Studies: clarification and alpha-numeric adaptation of notation systems for artists and designers. Int J Arts Humanit 2015;4:121-48.
Aleman AC, Wang M, Schaeffel F. Reading and myopia: contrast polarity matters. Sci Rep 2018;8:1-8.
De-La-Peña C, Luque-Rojas MJ. Levels of reading comprehension in higher education: systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Psychol 2021;12:712901.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
