Does Extra Interletter Spacing Help Text Reading in Skilled Adult Readers?

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Perea ◽  
Lourdes Giner ◽  
Ana Marcet ◽  
Pablo Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Present Experiment ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
Facilitative Role ◽  
Text Reading ◽  
Standardized Reading Test

AbstractA number of experiments have shown that, in skilled adult readers, a small increase in interletter spacing speeds up the process of visual word recognition relative to the default settings (i.e., judge faster than judge). The goal of the present experiment was to examine whether this effect can be generalized to a more ecological scenario: text reading. Each participant read two stories (367 words each) taken from a standardized reading test. The stories were presented with the standard interletter spacing or with a small increase in interletter spacing (+1.2 points to default) in a within-subject design. An eyetracker was used to register the participants’ eye movements. Comprehension scores were also examined. Results showed that, on average, fixation durations were shorter while reading the text with extra spacing than while reading the text with the default settings (237 vs. 245 ms, respectively; η2 =. 41, p = .01). However, the number of fixations (while nonsignificant) was slightly higher in the text with extra spacing than in the text with the default spacing, and cancelled out the effect of interletter spacing in total reading times (F < 1). Comprehension scores were similar in the two spacing conditions (F < 1). Thus, at least for skilled adult readers, interletter spacing does not seem to play a consistently facilitative role during text reading.

scholarly journals Eye-movement benchmarks in Heritage Language reading

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Olga Parshina ◽  
Anna K. Laurinavichyute ◽  
Irina A. Sekerina
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Reading Patterns ◽  
Eye Movements During Reading

AbstractThis eye-tracking study establishes basic benchmarks of eye movements during reading in heritage language (HL) by Russian-speaking adults and adolescents of high (n = 21) and low proficiency (n = 27). Heritage speakers (HSs) read sentences in Cyrillic, and their eye movements were compared to those of Russian monolingual skilled adult readers, 8-year-old children and L2 learners. Reading patterns of HSs revealed longer mean fixation durations, lower skipping probabilities, and higher regressive saccade rates than in monolingual adults. High-proficient HSs were more similar to monolingual children, while low-proficient HSs performed on par with L2 learners. Low-proficient HSs differed from high-proficient HSs in exhibiting lower skipping probabilities, higher fixation counts, and larger frequency effects. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the weaker links account of bilingual language processing as well as the divergent attainment theory of HL.

scholarly journals Spelling ability influences early letter encoding during reading: Evidence from return-sweep eye movements

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Adam J Parker ◽  
Timothy J Slattery
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Target Information ◽  
Parafoveal Processing ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
Spelling Ability ◽  
Text Reading ◽  
Corrective Saccade ◽  
Lexical Quality

In recent years, there has been an increase in research concerning individual differences in readers’ eye movements. However, this body of work is almost exclusively concerned with the reading of single-line texts. While spelling and reading ability have been reported to influence saccade targeting and fixation times during intra-line reading, where upcoming words are available for parafoveal processing, it is unclear how these variables affect fixations adjacent to return-sweeps. We, therefore, examined the influence of spelling and reading ability on return-sweep and corrective saccade parameters for 120 participants engaged in multiline text reading. Less-skilled readers and spellers tended to launch their return-sweeps closer to the end of the line, prefer a viewing location closer to the start of the next, and made more return-sweep undershoot errors. We additionally report several skill-related differences in readers’ fixation durations across multiline texts. Reading ability influenced all fixations except those resulting from return-sweep error. In contrast, spelling ability influenced only those fixations following accurate return-sweeps—where parafoveal processing was not possible prior to fixation. This stands in contrasts to an established body of work where fixation durations are related to reading but not spelling ability. These results indicate that lexical quality shapes the rate at which readers access meaning from the text by enhancing early letter encoding, and influences saccade targeting even in the absence of parafoveal target information.

Experience with compound words influences their processing: An eye movement investigation with English compound words

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J Juhasz
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Recording eye movements provides information on the time-course of word recognition during reading. Juhasz and Rayner [Juhasz, B. J., & Rayner, K. (2003). Investigating the effects of a set of intercorrelated variables on eye fixation durations in reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 29, 1312–1318] examined the impact of five word recognition variables, including familiarity and age-of-acquisition (AoA), on fixation durations. All variables impacted fixation durations, but the time-course differed. However, the study focused on relatively short, morphologically simple words. Eye movements are also informative for examining the processing of morphologically complex words such as compound words. The present study further examined the time-course of lexical and semantic variables during morphological processing. A total of 120 English compound words that varied in familiarity, AoA, semantic transparency, lexeme meaning dominance, sensory experience rating (SER), and imageability were selected. The impact of these variables on fixation durations was examined when length, word frequency, and lexeme frequencies were controlled in a regression model. The most robust effects were found for familiarity and AoA, indicating that a reader’s experience with compound words significantly impacts compound recognition. These results provide insight into semantic processing of morphologically complex words during reading.

scholarly journals OB1-reader: A model of word recognition and eye movements in text reading.

2018 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 969-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Snell ◽  
Sam van Leipsig ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Martijn Meeter
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Text Reading

The DUT task: A novel experimental paradigm to investigate the variability of eye movements in whole-text reading for meaning

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-143
Author(s):  
Tobias Alf Kroll ◽  
A. Alexandre Trindade ◽  
Amber Asikis ◽  
Melissa Salas ◽  
Marcy Lau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Experimental Paradigm ◽  
Text Reading

scholarly journals Distraction by deviant sounds during reading: An eye-movement study

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1863-1875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin R Vasilev ◽  
Fabrice BR Parmentier ◽  
Bernhard Angele ◽  
Julie A Kirkby
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Repeated Sequence ◽  
Reading Performance ◽  
Sequence Capture ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
Movement Study ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Target Words

Oddball studies have shown that sounds unexpectedly deviating from an otherwise repeated sequence capture attention away from the task at hand. While such distraction is typically regarded as potentially important in everyday life, previous work has so far not examined how deviant sounds affect performance on more complex daily tasks. In this study, we developed a new method to examine whether deviant sounds can disrupt reading performance by recording participants’ eye movements. Participants read single sentences in silence and while listening to task-irrelevant sounds. In the latter condition, a 50-ms sound was played contingent on the fixation of five target words in the sentence. On most occasions, the same tone was presented (standard sound), whereas on rare and unexpected occasions it was replaced by white noise (deviant sound). The deviant sound resulted in significantly longer fixation durations on the target words relative to the standard sound. A time-course analysis showed that the deviant sound began to affect fixation durations around 180 ms after fixation onset. Furthermore, deviance distraction was not modulated by the lexical frequency of target words. In summary, fixation durations on the target words were longer immediately after the presentation of the deviant sound, but there was no evidence that it interfered with the lexical processing of these words. The present results are in line with the recent proposition that deviant sounds yield a temporary motor suppression and suggest that deviant sounds likely inhibit the programming of the next saccade.

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