Our lab is excited to announce that we have been awarded a prestigious 5-year grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) to investigate the complex relationship between visual crowding and letter recognition. This is the lab’s second ISF grant, with the previous research studying visual attention and perceptual learning in visual crowding.
Why is this important?
Reading is a fundamental skill that relies on our ability to accurately recognize individual letters. However, visual crowding, a phenomenon where our perception of a target object is hindered by surrounding objects, can significantly impair this process.
What will we be researching?
We will explore how our brains’ ability to learn statistical regularities in the environment interacts with these processes.
Specifically:
- How our brains utilize both word-level (lexical) and letter-level (sub-lexical) information to recognize letters, especially outside the center of vision.
- How visual crowding affects the reading abilities of young learners and its relationship to their overall reading proficiency.
- Predicting future reading difficulties by identifying children who are particularly susceptible to visual crowding
Potential Impact
This research stands at the intersection of cognitive science and education. By understanding the mechanisms of letter recognition and visual processing, we aim to:
- Develop more effective reading instruction methods
- Create optimized visual displays that support learning
- Provide early identification and intervention for children at risk of reading difficulties
Our work promises to illuminate the complex cognitive processes underlying reading, potentially transforming educational practices.
Yashar Lab 