不同掩蔽材料对阅读知觉广度的影响

采用移动窗口技术,探讨了不同掩蔽材料对中文阅读知觉广度的影响,结果表明：（1）相对于“※”掩蔽,文字掩蔽条件下的阅读效率更低、平均注视时间更长、眼跳幅度更小。（2）“※”掩蔽下被试的知觉广度为注视字左侧1个字,右侧2－3个字;文字掩蔽下被试的知觉广度为注视字左侧1个字,右侧3－4个字。综合上述结果,文字掩蔽材料可以比“※”掩蔽材料获得更大的知觉广度,但阅读效率更低。在中文阅读中,文字掩蔽材料更适合探讨阅读知觉广度     

高低水平汉英二语者阅读难易英语句子的知觉广度

通过考察高、低水平汉英二语者阅读难易英语句子的知觉广度,本研究发现二语水平和句子难度调节汉英二语者的英语阅读速度,但不影响其阅读知觉广度,均表现为注视词左侧1个词至右侧1个词。该结果表明汉英二语者采用相对固定的注意分配策略来阅读英语,与中央凹加工负荷假说不一致。     

Effects of parafoveal word length and orthographic features on initial fixation landing positions in reading

Previous research has demonstrated that readers use word length and word boundary information in targeting saccades into upcoming words while reading. Previous studies have also revealed that the initial landing positions for fixations on words are affected by parafoveal processing. In the present study, we examined the effects of word length and orthographic legality on targeting saccades into parafoveal words. Long (8?C9 letters) and short (4?C5 letters) target words, which were matched on lexical frequency and initial letter trigram, were paired and embedded into identical sentence frames. The gaze-contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975) was used to manipulate the parafoveal information available to the reader before direct fixation on the target word. The parafoveal preview was either identical to the target word or was a visually similar nonword. The nonword previews contained orthographically legal or orthographically illegal initial letters. The results showed that orthographic preprocessing of the word to the right of fixation affected eye movement targeting, regardless of word length. Additionally, the lexical status of an upcoming saccade target in the parafovea generally did not influence preprocessing.     

中文阅读知觉广度的影响因素研究

研究以Eyelink2000车载眼动仪为工具,采用6×3×2×2的四因素混合设计,借助经典的移动窗口技术,探讨了72名被试阅读知觉广度的发展情况,以及材料难度和阅读能力对知觉广度的影响。结果表明:(1)年级、材料难度、阅读能力均各自独立地影响知觉广度。(2)小学三年级被试知觉广度的右侧范围为1~2个字,小学五年级被试接近成人大学生的知觉广度,右侧范围均为2~3个汉字。(3)难度对知觉广度有影响,被试阅读难材料的知觉广度为2~3个汉字,易材料为2~4个汉字。(4)高阅读能力被试的知觉广度大于低阅读能力被试,阅读容易材料时比低阅读能力被试有更大的向右眼跳幅度。     

What’s left? An eye movement study of the influence of interword spaces to the left of fixation during reading

In English and other alphabetic systems read from left to right, the useful information acquired during each fixational pause is generally reported to extend 14–15 character spaces to the right of each fixation, but only 3–4 character spaces to the left, and certainly no farther than the beginning of the fixated word. However, this leftward extent is remarkably small and seems inconsistent with the general bilateral symmetry of vision. Accordingly, in the present study we investigated the influence of a fundamental component of text to the left of fixation—interword spaces—using a well-established eyetracking paradigm in which invisible boundaries were set up along individual sentence displays that were then read. Each boundary corresponded to the leftmost edge of a word in a sentence, so that as the eyes crossed a boundary, interword spaces in the text to the left of that word were obscured (by inserting a letter x). The proximity of the obscured text during each fixational pause was maintained at one, two, three, or four interword spaces from the left boundary of each fixated word. Normal fixations, regressions, and progressive saccades were disrupted when the obscured text was up to three interword spaces (an average of over 12 character spaces) away from the fixated word, while four interword spaces away produced no disruption. These findings suggest that influential information from text is acquired during each fixational pause from much farther leftward than is generally realized and that this information contributes to normal reading performance. Implications of these findings for reading are discussed.     

When preview information starts to matter: Development of the perceptual span in German beginning readers

How is reading development reflected in eye-movement measures? How does the perceptual span change during the initial years of reading instruction? Does parafoveal processing require competence in basic word-decoding processes? We report data from the first cross-sectional measurement of the perceptual span of German beginning readers (n = 139), collected in the context of the large longitudinal PIER (Potsdamer Intrapersonale Entwicklungsrisiken/Potsdam study of intra-personal developmental risk factors) study of intrapersonal developmental risk factors. Using the moving-window paradigm, eye movements of three groups of students (Grades 1–3) were measured with gaze-contingent presentation of a variable amount of text around fixation. Reading rate increased from Grades 1–3, with smaller increases for higher grades. Perceptual-span results showed the expected main effects of grade and window size: fixation durations and refixation probability decreased with grade and window size, whereas reading rate and saccade length increased. Critically, for reading rate, first-fixation duration, saccade length and refixation probability, there were significant interactions of grade and window size that were mainly based on the contrast between Grades 3 and 2 rather than Grades 2 and 1. Taken together, development of the perceptual span only really takes off between Grades 2 and 3, suggesting that efficient parafoveal processing presupposes that basic processes of reading have been mastered.     

Eye movements when reading: The importance of the word to the left of fixation

In reading, it is well established that word processing can begin in the parafovea while the eyes are fixating the previous word. However, much less is known about the processing of information to the left of fixation. In two experiments, this issue was explored by combining a gaze-contingent display procedure preventing parafoveal preview and a letter detection task. All words were displayed as a series of xs until the reader fixated them, thereby preventing forward parafoveal processing, yet enabling backward parafoveal or postview processing. Results from both experiments revealed that readers were able to detect a target letter embedded in a word that was skipped. In those cases, the letter could only have been identified in postview (to the left of fixation), and detection rate decreased as the distance between the target letter and the eyes' landing position increased. Most importantly, for those skipped words, the typical missing-letter effect was observed with more omissions for target letters embedded in function than in content words. This can be taken as evidence that readers can extract basic prelexical information, such as the presence of a letter, in the parafoveal area to the left of fixation. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to models of eye movement control in reading and also in relation to models of the missing-letter effect.     

藏语阅读知觉广度的眼动研究

不同语体阅读知觉广度的研究由来已久,研究重心多集中于拼音文字和表意文字,已有研究表明阅读知觉广度存在语言加工的特异性。藏语作为拼音文字,同时具有表意文字的特征,是阅读知觉广度研究尚未涉及的语言材料。因此,藏语阅读知觉广度的范围尚不清楚,藏语阅读知觉广度是否也表现出语言加工的特异性也有待证实。为了探测藏语阅读知觉广度的大小,使用Eye Link 1000 Plus型眼动记录仪,以35名在校藏族大学生为被试,采用经典的移动窗口范式,设计了7种窗口(5、9、13、17、21、25和整行)。结果发现,L2R2-L12R12在所有指标的观测值上均存在显著差异,L4R4-L12R12在总注视次数、总注视时间和向右眼跳幅度三个指标的观测值上存在显著差异,L6R6-L12R12在向右眼跳幅度指标的观测值上存在显著差异,L8R8-L12R12在所有指标的观测值上均不存在显著差异,达到了基准水平。结果支持藏族大学生藏语阅读知觉广度的右侧范围大约是注视点右侧4~8个字符的空间。阅读知觉广度存在语言加工的特异性。     

Development of the letter identity span in reading: evidence from the eye movement moving window paradigm

By means of the moving window paradigm, we examined how many letters can be identified during a single eye fixation and whether this letter identity span changes as a function of reading skill. The results revealed that 8-year-old Finnish readers identify approximately 5 characters, 10-year-old readers identify approximately 7 characters, and 12-year-old and adult readers identify approximately 9 characters to the right of fixation. Comparison with earlier studies revealed that the letter identity span is smaller than the span for identifying letter features and that it is as wide in Finnish as in English. Furthermore, the letter identity span of faster readers of each age group was larger than that of slower readers, indicating that slower readers, unlike faster readers, allocate most of their processing resources to foveally fixated words. Finally, slower second graders were largely not disrupted by smaller windows, suggesting that their word decoding skill is not yet fully automatized.     

Reading with a filtered fovea: The influence of visual quality at the point of fixation during reading

Reading relies critically on processing text in foveal vision during brief fixational pauses, and high-quality visual input from foveal text is fundamental to theories of reading. However, the quality of visual input from foveal text that is actually functional for reading and the effects of this input on reading performance are unclear. To investigate these issues, a moving, gaze-contingent foveal filtering technique was developed to display areas of text within foveal vision that provided only coarse, medium, or fine scale visual input during each fixational pause during reading. Normal reading times were unaffected when foveal text up to three characters wide at the point of fixation provided any one visual input (coarse, medium, or fine). Wider areas of coarse visual input lengthened reading times, but reading still occurred, and normal reading times were completely unaffected when only medium or fine visual input extended across the entire fovea. Further analyses revealed that each visual input had no effect on the number of fixations made when normal text was read, that adjusting fixation durations helped preserve reading efficiency for different visual inputs, and that each visual input had virtually no effect on normal saccades. These findings indicate that, despite the resolving power of foveal vision and the emphasis placed on high-quality foveal visual input by theories of reading, normal reading functions with similar success using a range of restricted visual inputs from foveal text, even at the point of fixation. Some implications of these findings for theories of reading are discussed.     

Word segmentation by alternating colors facilitates eye guidance in Chinese reading

During sentence reading, low spatial frequency information afforded by spaces between words is the primary factor for eye guidance in spaced writing systems, whereas saccade generation for unspaced writing systems is less clear and under debate. In the present study, we investigated whether word-boundary information, provided by alternating colors (consistent or inconsistent with word-boundary information) influences saccade-target selection in Chinese. In Experiment 1, as compared to a baseline (i.e., uniform color) condition, word segmentation with alternating color shifted fixation location towards the center of words. In contrast, incorrect word segmentation shifted fixation location towards the beginning of words. In Experiment 2, we used a gaze-contingent paradigm to restrict the color manipulation only to the upcoming parafoveal words and replicated the results, including fixation location effects, as observed in Experiment 1. These results indicate that Chinese readers are capable of making use of parafoveal word-boundary knowledge for saccade generation, even if such information is unfamiliar to them. The present study provides novel support for the hypothesis that word segmentation is involved in the decision about where to fixate next during Chinese reading.     

Eye movement guidance in reading: the role of parafoveal letter and space information

The relation between parafoveal letter and space information in eye movement guidance during reading was investigated in 2 experiments. Contingent upon the reader's fixation, the type of parafoveal information available to the right of fixation was varied by (a) space information only, (b) space information with letter information added at some delay, or (c) letter and space information simultaneously. In addition, the onset of the relevant parafoveal information was delayed between 0 and 250 ms into the fixation. The time course of processing the 2 types of information (letters or spaces) differed, as did the nature of their impact on the eye movement record. Although both letter and space information influenced saccade length and initial landing positions within words, only letter information had an effect on fixation duration. In addition, fixation duration was affected only by information entering within the first 50 ms of the fixation, whereas saccade length was affected by information arriving at any time during the fixation. The results are consistent with a model of eye movement control in which 2 independent processes are operating in tandem to determine when and where to move the eyes during reading.     

因果与权重：决策的眼动模型

结合眼动注视的漂移扩散模型可很好描述个体的决策行为,但尚存在两个问题未得到解决：注视与决策的因果关系以及决策过程中累积证据的权重问题。本研究采用基于注视的操纵范式考察了基于价值的决策中注视与决策的关系,发现操纵被试对选项的注视时间可影响其选择,注视操纵主要影响决策后期时程,且模型参数估计结果更支持近因模型。研究结果支持了漂移扩散模型的近因假设,为今后的模型发展指明了新方向。     

Parafoveal processing in reading

The present review summarizes research investigating how words are identified parafoveally (and foveally) in reading. Parafoveal and foveal processing are compared when no other concurrent task is required (e.g., in single-word recognition tasks) and when both are required simultaneously (e.g., during reading). We first review methodologies used to study parafoveal processing (e.g., corpus analyses and experimental manipulations, including gaze-contingent display change experiments such as the boundary, moving window, moving mask, and fast priming paradigms). We then turn to a discussion of the levels of representation at which words are processed (e.g., orthographic, phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and semantic). Next, we review relevant research regarding parafoveal processing, summarizing the extent to which words are processed at each of those levels of representation. We then review some of the most controversial aspects of parafoveal processing, as they relate to reading: (1) word skipping, (2) parafoveal-on-foveal effects, and (3) n + 1 and n + 2 preview benefit effects. Finally, we summarize two of the most advanced models of eye movements during reading and how they address foveal and parafoveal processing.     

Is the optimal viewing position in reading influenced by familiarity of the letter string?

An optimal viewing position (OVP) for word recognition has been proposed by several authors. The location of this position would be located at the center of the word or just left of it. Several hypotheses ranging from perceptual to hemispheric factors have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. In the experiment presented here, the effect of the nature of the stimulus was tested: word, pseudo-word, or nonword on the existence and location of this position. Little research has investigated this issue. Five-letter words, pseudo-words, and non-words were presented, with the subject fixating initially on one of the five possible letter positions. The number of letters correctly identified and reading performance were recorded for each stimulus. Results show that an initial fixation on the third letter entails better letter identification for all kinds of stimuli. However, in terms of reading, only word reading benefit from a fixation on the third letter. These results are discussed in relation to the different hypotheses of OVP in reading. These are (1) hemispheric specialization, (2) reading habits, and (3) lexical constraints.     

Lexical quality and eye movements: Individual differences in the perceptual span of skilled adult readers

Two experiments used the gaze-contingent moving-window paradigm to investigate whether reading comprehension and spelling ability modulate the perceptual span of skilled adult readers during sentence reading. Highly proficient reading and spelling were both associated with increased use information to the right of fixation, but did not systematically modulate the extraction of information to the left of fixation. Individuals who were high in both reading and spelling ability showed the greatest benefit from window sizes larger than 11 characters, primarily because of increases in forward saccade length. They were also significantly more disrupted by being denied close parafoveal information than those poor in reading and/or spelling. These results suggest that, in addition to supporting rapid lexical retrieval of fixated words, the high quality lexical representations indexed by the combination of high reading and spelling ability support efficient processing of parafoveal information and effective saccadic targeting.     

汉语双字词句知觉广度的眼动研究

阅读知觉广度通常指阅读者在阅读文本过程中每次注视能获取有用视觉信息的范围。既往的汉语知觉广度的研究一般把单字作为基本的知觉呈现单元,但在某些呈现条件下,此类呈现方式会导致阅读过程中的语义加工的完整性被破坏。本研究采用眼动追踪技术,使用移动窗口范式和中央凹掩蔽范式,使用双字词句作为阅读材料,双字词作为基本的知觉呈现单元,探讨在保证知觉呈现单元语义完整性的基础上大学生的汉语阅读知觉广度。实验一采用移动窗口范式,结果发现,知觉广度范围为注视词左侧1个双字词及右侧1-2个双字词的空间。实验二采用中央凹掩蔽范式,结果验证了实验一的研究结果。该结果表明,在汉语阅读过程中,以双字词为基本的视觉呈现单元,较既往研究中单字为基本呈现单元的情况,更好地保证了阅读中语义的完整性,从而获得了更大的知觉范围。该结果建立于视觉呈现单元的语义完整性的基础上,是对现有的汉语阅读知觉广度理论的完善和扩展。     

Tests of a model of multi-word reading: Effects of parafoveal flanking letters on foveal word recognition

We used the “flanking letters lexical decision” paradigm of Dare and Shillcock (2013) in order to test a model of multi-word reading. In the model, multiple words (on fixation, and to the left and right of fixation) are processed in parallel by a bank of location-specific letter detectors. These letter detectors feed information forward to a “bag of bigrams” that represents location-invariant sublexical orthographic information for all words processed in parallel. Bigrams are only formed within words (i.e., between spaces) but activate all compatible word representations. The model accounts for a finding reported by Dare and Shillcock (2013): Word recognition is facilitated when flanking letter pairs are present in the target (e.g. RO ROCK CK) compared with different letter flankers (ST ROCK EN), but independently of the position of the flanking bigrams (e.g., CK ROCK RO). In the present study we replicate this key finding and show that, as predicted by the model, although bigram position does not matter, within-bigram letter position does. Word recognition is harder when the position of letters within bigram flankers is reversed (e.g., OR ROCK KC/KC ROCK OR), but these conditions still facilitate with respect to a different letter flanker condition.     

Preview benefit and parafoveal-on-foveal effects from word n + 2

Using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm with the boundary placed after word n, the experiment manipulated preview of word n + 2 for fixations on word n. There was no preview benefit for 1st-pass reading on word n + 2, replicating the results of K. Rayner, B. J. Juhasz, and S. J. Brown (2007), but there was a preview benefit on the 3-letter word n + 1, that is, after the boundary but before word n + 2. Additionally, both word n + 1 and word n + 2 exhibited parafoveal-on-foveal effects on word n. Thus, during a fixation on word n and given a short word n + 1, some information is extracted from word n + 2, supporting the hypothesis of distributed processing in the perceptual span.     

Eye movements and the perceptual span in silent and oral reading

Previous research has examined parafoveal processing during silent reading, but little is known about the role of these processes in oral reading. Given that masking parafoveal information slows down silent reading, we asked whether a similar effect also occurs in oral reading. To investigate the role of parafoveal processing in silent and oral reading, we manipulated the parafoveal information available to readers by changing the size of a gaze-contingent moving window. Participants read silently and orally in a one-word window and a three-word window condition as we monitored their eye movements. The lack of parafoveal information slowed reading speed in both oral and silent reading. However, the effects of parafoveal information were larger in silent reading than in oral reading, because of different effects of preview information on both when the eyes move and how often. Parafoveal information benefitted silent reading for faster readers more than for slower readers.