Br J Psychol. 1997 Nov;88 ( Pt 4):531-48.
Prolonged use of coloured overlays for classroom reading.
Jeanes R, Busby A, Martin J, Lewis E, Stevenson N, Pointon D, Wilkins A.
Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge, UK.
Ninety-three children in a primary school and 59 children in two first-year
classes of a secondary school were asked individually to observe a paragraph of
random letters arranged to resemble text, and to compare the perceptual effects
on its clarity of coloured plastic sheets overlaid on the text. A total of 29
colours were compared using 10 coloured plastic sheets and 19 pairwise
combinations of sheets, one superimposed on another. The resulting colours
sampled CIE 1976 hue angle (huv) and saturation (suv) systematically and
efficiently. All the children who reported beneficial perceptual effects (53 per
cent) were given their preferred overlay or combination of overlays to use as
and when they wished. When the children were examined three months later the
children tended to choose a colour similar to one they had chosen previously.
Ten months later, 22 per cent of those offered the overlaps were still using
them of their own volition. These children, but not those who had ceased to use
their overlay(s), read randomly ordered simple words more quickly with their
overlay than without. In a second independent group of children referred to the
Norfolk Sensory Support Service, who used overlays routinely, the reading speed
was similar with a grey or clear overlay; and slower than with the chosen
coloured overlay, suggesting that reduction of contrast was not the critical
factor. In a third independent group of children in a primary school in Kent,
the increase in reading speed with the chosen overlay predicted the children who
continued to use their overlay during the ensuing eight weeks.