Research
What we read while making Cadence.
Reading on Screens and Paper
- Don't throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehensionDelgado, Vargas, Ackerman & Salmerón, 2018. Educational Research Review
- Comparing comprehension of a long text read in print book and on Kindle: Where in the text and when in the story?Mangen, Olivier & Velay, 2019. Frontiers in Psychology
- To scroll or not to scroll: Scrolling, working memory capacity, and comprehending complex textsSanchez & Wiley, 2009. Human Factors
- Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertnessChang, Aeschbach, Duffy & Czeisler, 2015. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Pace, Attention and Looking Back
- So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help?Rayner, Schotter, Masson, Potter & Treiman, 2016. Psychological Science in the Public Interest
- Don't believe what you read (only once): Comprehension is supported by regressions during readingSchotter, Tran & Rayner, 2014. Psychological Science
- TL;DR: Longer sections of text increase rates of unintentional mind-wanderingForrin, Mills, D'Mello, Risko, Smilek & Seli, 2021. The Journal of Experimental Education
- The rhythm of cognition: Effects of an auditory beat on oculomotor control in reading and sequential scanningLange, Pieczykolan, Trukenbrod & Huestegge, 2018. Journal of Eye Movement Research
- Auditory distraction during reading: A Bayesian meta-analysis of a continuing controversyVasilev, Kirkby & Angele, 2018. Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Rhythmic haptic stimuli improve short-term attentionZhang, Wang, Afzal, Zhang & Wu, 2016. IEEE Transactions on Haptics
Words Shown in One Place
- Reading without saccadic eye movementsRubin & Turano, 1992. Vision Research
- Low-vision patients with age-related maculopathy read RSVP faster when word duration varies according to word lengthAquilante, Yager, Morris & Khmelnitsky, 2001. Optometry and Vision Science
- Towards an improved readability on mobile devices: Evaluating adaptive rapid serial visual presentationÖquist & Goldstein, 2002. Mobile HCI, Lecture Notes in Computer Science
- Reading Chinese text on a small screen with RSVPChen & Chien, 2005. Displays
- Optokinetic therapy improves text reading in patients with hemianopic alexia: A controlled trialSpitzyna et al., 2007. Neurology
- Improving reading speed for people with central vision loss through perceptual learningChung, 2011. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
- Rapid serial visual presentation in reading: The case of SpritzBenedetto, Carbone, Pedrotti, Le Fevre, Yahia Bey & Baccino, 2015. Computers in Human Behavior
- Exploring the effects of text length and difficulty on RSVP readingHester, Werner, Greenwald & Gunning, 2016. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
- Digital reading with low vision: Principles for selecting display sizeXiong, Atilgan, Fletcher & Legge, 2022
- Reading without eye movements: Improving reading comprehension in young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)Moussaoui, Siddiqi, Cheung & Niemeier, 2025. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Line Length, Spacing and Layout
- Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexiaZorzi et al., 2012. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Shorter lines facilitate reading in those who struggleSchneps et al., 2013. PLOS ONE
- E-readers are more effective than paper for some with dyslexiaSchneps et al., 2013. PLOS ONE
- Does extra interletter spacing help text reading in skilled adult readers?Perea, Giner, Marcet & Gomez, 2016. The Spanish Journal of Psychology
- Dyslexia style guideBritish Dyslexia Association, 2023
- Pairing phrase-cued text with readers theatre: Effects on reading prosody and automaticityRodgers, D'Agostino, Levin & Rasinski, 2025. Journal of Research in Reading
Fonts
- The effect of a specialized dyslexia font, OpenDyslexic, on reading rate and accuracyWery & Diliberto, 2017. Annals of Dyslexia
- Towards individuated reading experiences: Different fonts increase reading speed for different individualsWallace et al., 2022. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
- Does BeeLine Reader's gradient-coloured font improve the readability of digital texts for beginning readers?Koornneef & Kraal, 2022. Computers in Human Behavior Reports
- No, Bionic Reading does not workSnell, 2024
- Guiding the gaze: How Bionic Reading influences eye movementsBeelders, 2025. Journal of Eye Movement Research
- Dyslexia research and replicability: Should we be worried?Leung, Logvinenko & Schmalz, 2025. Mind, Brain, and Education
- Does font improve reading in dyslexic children? A meta-analysis of dyslexia-friendly fonts and dyslexic children's reading performanceAzzarello, Paek, Hodge, Jameson & Lewis, 2026. Annals of Dyslexia
Contrast and Colour
- Psychophysics of reading. VI. The role of contrast in low visionRubin & Legge, 1989. Vision Research
- Positive display polarity is advantageous for both younger and older adultsPiepenbrock, Mayr, Mund & Buchner, 2013. Ergonomics
- Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.6: Contrast (Enhanced)W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2, 2023
- Efficacy of coloured lenses for patients diagnosed with visual stressSuttle & Conway, 2025. Clinical and Experimental Optometry
Common and Rare Words
- Eye fixation patterns among dyslexic and normal readers: Effects of word length and word frequencyHyönä & Olson, 1995. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
- Word frequency effects and eye movements during two readings of a textRaney & Rayner, 1995. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology
- The word frequency effect in word processing: An updated reviewBrysbaert, Mandera & Keuleers, 2018. Current Directions in Psychological Science
Reading While Listening
- Does use of text-to-speech and related read-aloud tools improve reading comprehension for students with reading disabilities? A meta-analysisWood, Moxley, Tighe & Wagner, 2018. Journal of Learning Disabilities
- Effect of text-to-speech rate on reading comprehension by adults with aphasiaHux, Brown, Wallace, Knollman-Porter, Saylor & Lapp, 2020. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
- Does reading while listening to text improve comprehension compared to reading only? A systematic review and meta-analysisClinton-Lisell, 2023. Educational Research: Theory and Practice
- Scaffolding comprehension with reading while listening and the role of reading speed and text complexityHui, 2024. The Modern Language Journal
- Listening, reading, or both? Rethinking the comprehension benefits of reading-while-listeningHui & Godfroid, 2025. Language Learning
Learning and Second Languages
- Improving students' learning with effective learning techniquesDunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan & Willingham, 2013. Psychological Science in the Public Interest
- The impact of rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) on reading by nonnative speakersBoo & Conklin, 2015. Journal of Second Language Teaching & Research
- Multimedia glosses and second language vocabulary learning: A second-round meta-analysisMahdi, Mohsen & Almanea, 2024. Acta Psychologica
How Common
- Vision impairment and blindness (fact sheet)World Health Organization
- The prevalence of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A global systematic review and meta-analysisSong et al., 2021. Journal of Global Health
- Aphasia (Practice Portal)American Speech-Language-Hearing Association