Investigating graph comprehension in students with dyslexia: An eye tracking study

• Published in: Research in developmental disabilities Vol. 35; no. 7; pp. 1609 - 1622
• Main Authors: Kim, Sunjung, Lombardino, Linda J., Cowles, Wind, Altmann, Lori J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Biological and medical sciences; Child clinical studies; College students; Comprehension; Computer Graphics; Developmental disorders; Developmental dyslexia; Discrimination Learning; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Dyslexia; Dyslexia - diagnosis; Dyslexia - psychology; Eye fixation; Eye Movements; Eye tracking; Female; Fixation, Ocular; Graph comprehension; Graphs; Humans; Learning disorders; Linguistics; Male; Medical sciences; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Problem Solving; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reaction Time; Reference Values; Students - psychology; Young Adult; Developmental dyslexia; Graph comprehension; College students; Eye tracking; Human; Reading disorder; University environment; Developmental disorder; Comprehension; Student; Eye movement; Language disorder; Communication disorder; Learning disability; Dyslexia
• ISSN: 0891-4222; 1873-3379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.03.043

•Graph comprehension is influenced by graphical properties, a type of task, and a viewer's ability.•Young adults with dyslexia were slower in interpreting graphs than typical readers.•Graph comprehension in the dyslexic students deteriorated as the task complexity increased.•Dyslexic students were slower in first process and reanalysis of linguistic regions in a graph.•Dyslexic students were slower in reanalysis of graphic regions, but not in the first analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine graph comprehension in college students with developmental dyslexia. We investigated how graph types (line, vertical bar, and horizontal bar graphs), graphic patterns (single and double graphic patterns), and question types (point locating and comparison questions) differentially affect graph comprehension of students with and without dyslexia. Groups were compared for (1) reaction times for answering comprehension questions based on graphed data and (2) eye gaze times for specific graph subregions (x-axis, y-axis, pattern, legend, question, and answer). Dyslexic readers were significantly slower in their graph comprehension than their peers with group differences becoming more robust with the increasing complexity of graphs and tasks. In addition, dyslexic readers’ initial eye gaze viewing times for linguistic subregions (question and answer) and total viewing times for both linguistic (question and answer) and nonlinguistic (pattern) subregions were significantly longer than their control peers’ times. In spite of using elementary-level paragraphs for comprehension and simple graph forms, young adults with dyslexia needed more time to process linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli. These findings are discussed relative to theories proposed to address fundamental processing deficits in individuals with dyslexia.