A model, based on research using think aloud, memory recognition and recall, response time, and eye tracking methods, describes cognitive processes in equation reading. Equation reading involves (1) 300 msec fixations during which the reader extracts features to identify the symbols – numbers, operators, parentheses – as attention shifts across 2 − 3 symbols, and (2) short saccades that often end on numbers. The reader identifies the end of a multidigit number by a space, leading her to identify a sequence of numerals as a one-, two- or three-digit number. Parentheses, rarely fixated and poorly recalled, help direct the flow of reading. Parenthetical expressions are solved and stored separately. Readers backscan approximately as frequently they forward scan through equations, possibly to construct a representation of the equation structure as they read it. The model of the processes of equation reading by sighted persons has been useful in designing an auditory browser for blind readers.
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