The effect of landscape photograph type on aesthetic judgments, attention, and memory in children with dyslexia.

Given the link between visual stimuli and memory, children with dyslexia could benefit from research discovering what visual stimuli they find more pleasing and memorable. People like natural landscapes (e.g.,forests) more than human-made (e.g.,cityscapes) or "combined" landscapes (i.e.,combination of human-made and natural components, e.g.,tires in a meadow). The purpose was to determine if the greater likability for natural generalized to children with dyslexia and age-equivalent controls and if photograph type impacted recognition rates after the short and long term. All children liked natural landscape photographs the most but paid longer attention to combined landscape photographs. Both groups recognized all photograph types at a high rate after the short retention interval, but after the long interval, the children with dyslexia had better memory, especially for combined photographs. On the basis of these results, we advise educators to incorporate images of natural landscapes into the learning context in order to create a more aesthetically pleasing environment or to infuse combined images for a more engaging and memorable environment.