Toward a lifespan metric of reading fluency

Much evidence suggests complexity in cognitive and motor task performances [Gilden, 2001]. The present study builds upon this work, treating reading of text as a kind of complex coordination or coupling between reader and reading conditions. Three self-paced reading conditions presented connect text in units of different sizes: word, phrase, or sentence units, and repeatedly measure times between spacebar presses to advance the text. The three conditions reveal different patterns across the data. These patterns were evaluated using fractal analyses and Recurrent Quantification Analyses to distinguish highly fluent readers, PhD candidates in English literature, from competent but less fluent undergraduate readers.