Word legibility as a function of letter legibility, with word size, word familiarity, and resolution as parameters

Abstract

COMPARED INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS IN CONTEXT WITH ISOLATED CHARACTERS TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LETTER AND WORD LEGIBILITY. THE WORDS INCLUDED IN THE STIMULUS MATERIAL VARIED IN FAMILIARITY AND LENGTH. 2 INDEPENDENT VARIABLES WERE INTRODUCED TO DEGRADE LEGIBILITY: CHARACTER SIZE AND RESOLUTION. CHARACTERS OF 4 HEIGHTS WERE REPRODUCED AT EACH OF 20 VERTICAL-HORIZONTAL RESOLUTION COMBINATIONS. WORD LEGIBILITY INCREASED WITH RESOLUTION AND WITH CHARACTER SIZE. WORD LENGTH WAS UNIMPORTANT, BUT WORD FAMILIARITY WAS AN IMPORTANT DETERMINANT OF LEGIBILITY. FAMILIAR WORDS WERE FOUND TO BE ABOUT AS LEGIBLE AS INDIVIDUAL LETTERS, WITH A PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATION COEFFICIENT OF .98. UNFAMILIAR WORDS WERE LESS LEGIBLE THAN INDIVIDUAL LETTERS, WITH A COEFFICIENT OF .94. IF THE DEGREE OF FAMILIARITY OF WORDS IS KNOWN, WORD LEGIBILITY CAN BE PREDICTED WITH REASONABLE ACCURACY ON THE BASIS OF LETTER LEGIBILITY. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)