On the link between the ability to reproduce rhythm and reading speed: Effects of visual grouping marks

Abstract

Studies have revealed a link between a deficient ability to reproduce rhythm and dyslexia. Moreover, a normal ability to reproduce rhythm has been shown to correlate with reading speed. Some associate these findings to effects of neural oscillations and a visual parsing of text input (Vidyasagar, 2013). The present study aimed to clarify the properties of the visual stimuli that support a correlation between rhythm reproduction and reading speed. The experiments were partly based on Tierney and Kraus (2014). Thirty participants were asked to reproduce heard regular (2 beats/sec) and irregular (1-3 beats/sec) rhythms by tapping on a keyboard. Then, the participants had to read out loud, at a fast rate, visually displayed sequences of words and non-words. The sequences contained either no spaces between items (baseline condition) or spaces marking regular and irregular groups. Mean reading speeds were calculated on accurately decoded sequences. Among the significant findings, strong correlations were observed between mean reading speeds of texts containing spaces and the reproduction of certain rhythm patterns. However, no significant correlations appeared for text where there were no spaces separating words and non-words. This supports the view that the ability to reproduce rhythm can link to a visual parsing.