What is the last size a patient can read with fluency called?

• A. critical print size (CPS)
• B. comfortable print size
• C. legibility threshold
• D. maximum reading size

Answer: (A)

The concept here is how print size affects reading fluency. When you measure reading performance across different print sizes, reading speed typically improves as print gets larger, then it reaches a point where making the print bigger doesn’t further increase fluency. The smallest print size that allows fluent, near-maximum reading speed is called the critical print size. This is the last size at which the patient can read with fluency because smaller sizes would slow them down or make reading effortful.

So, the critical print size is the threshold for fluent reading: the minimum size that supports smooth, efficient reading for that person. It’s distinct from a comfortable print size, which is simply what the patient finds easy or comfortable to read and may be larger than the size needed to achieve fluency. The other terms listed aren’t standard descriptors of this fluency boundary.