Length, frequency, and predictability effects of words on eye movements in reading

We tested the effects of word length, frequency, and predictability on inspection durations (first fixation, single fixation, gaze duration, and reading time) and inspection probabilities during first‐pass reading (skipped, once, twice) for a corpus of 144 German sentences (1138 words) and a subset of 144 target words uncorrelated in length and frequency, read by 33 young and 32 older adults. For corpus words, length and frequency were reliably related to inspection durations and probabilities, predictability only to inspection probabilities. For first‐pass reading of target words all three effects were reliable for inspection durations and probabilities. Low predictability was strongly related to second‐pass reading. Older adults read slower than young adults and had a higher frequency of regressive movements. The data are to serve as a benchmark for computational models of eye movement control in reading.

[1]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[2]  M A Just,et al.  A theory of reading: from eye fixations to comprehension. , 1980, Psychological review.

[3]  B. J. Davidson,et al.  Regression analyses as a tool for studying reading processes: Comment on Just and Carpenters eye fixation theory , 1982, Memory & cognition.

[4]  B. J. Davidson,et al.  19 – On Problems of Unconfounding Perceptual and Language Processes , 1983 .

[5]  B. Troost,et al.  The effects of age on normal saccadic characteristics and their variability , 1983, Vision Research.

[6]  H E Blanchard,et al.  CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF READING Technical Report No 285 A COMPARISON OF SOME PROCESSING TIME MEASURES BASED ON EYE ' MOVEMENTS , 2007 .

[7]  J. O'Regan,et al.  Eye-movement strategy and tactics in word recognition and reading. , 1987 .

[8]  D. Francis.  An introduction to structural equation models. , 1988, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[9]  P. W. Kerr,et al.  Eye movement control during reading: I. The location of initial eye fixations on words , 1987, Vision Research.

[10]  J. L. Myers,et al.  Regression analyses of repeated measures data in cognitive research. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[11]  A. Jacobs,et al.  Neighborhood frequency effects and letter visibility in visual word recognition , 1992, Perception & psychophysics.

[12]  J. Henderson,et al.  Eye movement control during reading: fixation measures reflect foveal but not parafoveal processing difficulty. , 1993, Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale.

[13]  C. Clifton,et al.  Determinants of parafoveal preview benefit in high and low working memory capacity readers: implications for eye movement control. , 1995, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[14]  H. Solan,et al.  Developing visual and reading efficiency in older adults. , 1995, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[15]  Gary E. Raney,et al.  Eye movement control in reading: a comparison of two types of models. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[16]  K. Rayner,et al.  Effects of contextual constraint on eye movements in reading: A further examination , 1996, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[17]  Erik D. Reichle,et al.  Toward a model of eye movement control in reading. , 1998, Psychological review.

[18]  G. McConkie,et al.  Chapter 4 – Determinants of Fixation Positions in Words During Reading , 1998 .

[19]  Françoise Vitu,et al.  Word skipping: Implications for theories of eye movement control in reading , 1998 .

[20]  K. Rayner,et al.  Comparing naming, lexical decision, and eye fixation times: Word frequency effects and individual differences , 1998, Memory & cognition.

[21]  K. Rayner,et al.  Extraction of information to the left of the fixated word in reading. , 1999, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[22]  Erik D. Reichle,et al.  Eye movement control in reading: accounting for initial fixation locations and refixations within the E-Z Reader model , 1999, Vision Research.

[23]  G. McConkie,et al.  Regressive Saccades and Word Perception in Adult Reading , 2000 .

[24]  R. Radach,et al.  Chapter 7 – Relations Between Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Eye Movement Control , 2000 .

[25]  J. O'regan,et al.  ‘The-skipping’ revisited in French: programming saccades to skip the article ‘les’ , 2000, Vision Research.

[26]  K. Rayner,et al.  Eye movement control in reading: word predictability has little influence on initial landing positions in words , 2001, Vision Research.

[27]  R. Kliegl,et al.  Ageing and executive control , 2001 .

[28]  Reinhold Kliegl,et al.  Mathematical models of eye movements in reading: a possible role for autonomous saccades , 2001, Biological Cybernetics.

[29]  J. O'Regan,et al.  Fixation location effects on fixation durations during reading: an inverted optimal viewing position effect , 2001, Vision Research.

[30]  M. G. Calvo,et al.  Eye Movements and Processing Stages in Reading: Relative Contribution of Visual, Lexical, and Contextual Factors , 2002, The Spanish Journal of Psychology.

[31]  Ralf Engbert,et al.  A dynamical model of saccade generation in reading based on spatially distributed lexical processing , 2002, Vision Research.

[32]  A. Kennedy,et al.  Parafoveal-on-foveal interactions in word recognition , 2002, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[33]  Barbara J. Juhasz,et al.  Distinct Subsystems for the Parafoveal Processing of Spatial and Linguistic Information during Eye Fixations in Reading , 2003, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[34]  Ralf Engbert,et al.  Microsaccades uncover the orientation of covert attention , 2003, Vision Research.

[35]  Albrecht W Inhoff,et al.  Knowledge of word length does not constrain word identification , 2003, Psychological research.

[36]  Erik D. Reichle,et al.  The E-Z Reader model of eye-movement control in reading: Comparisons to other models , 2003, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.