Eye movements during reading and topic scanning: effects of word frequency.

Sarah J White,Kevin B Paterson,Victoria A Mcgowan,Kayleigh L Warrington

doi:10.1037/xhp0000020

Sarah J White, Kevin B Paterson + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000020

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Abstract

The study examined the nature of eye movement control and word recognition during scanning for a specific topic, compared with reading for comprehension. Experimental trials included a manipulation of word frequency: the critical word was frequent (and orthographically familiar) or infrequent (2 conditions: orthographically familiar and orthographically unfamiliar). First-pass reading times showed effects of word frequency for both reading and scanning, with no interactions between word characteristics and task. Therefore, in contrast to the task of searching for a single specific word (Rayner & Fischer, 1996), there were immediate and localized influences of lexical processing when scanning for a specific topic, indicating that early word recognition processes are similar during reading and topic scanning. In contrast, there were interactions for later measures, with larger effects of word frequency during reading than scanning, indicating that reading goals can modulate later processes such as the integration of words into sentence context. Additional analyses of the distribution of first-pass single fixation durations indicated that first-pass fixations of all durations were shortened during scanning compared with reading, and reading for comprehension produced a larger subset of longer first-pass fixations compared with scanning. The implications for the nature of word recognition and eye movement control are discussed.

Highlights

Many empirical studies and several sophisticated computational models (e.g. Engbert, Longtin, & Kliegl, 2002; Reichle, Pollatsek, Fisher, & Rayner, 1998) provide excellent accounts of the mechanisms underlying eye movement behaviour during reading for comprehension
Together the results indicate that initial lexical processing of words is similar for reading and topic scanning, later processing is modulated by task, such that lexical characteristics have a greater influence on later processing of words during reading for comprehension compared to topic scanning
Mean first-pass reading times were shorter during topic scanning, the effects of word frequency were the same across all first-pass measures

Summary

Introduction

Many empirical studies (for a review see Rayner, 2009) and several sophisticated computational models (e.g. Engbert, Longtin, & Kliegl, 2002; Reichle, Pollatsek, Fisher, & Rayner, 1998) provide excellent accounts of the mechanisms underlying eye movement behaviour during reading for comprehension. Engbert, Longtin, & Kliegl, 2002; Reichle, Pollatsek, Fisher, & Rayner, 1998) provide excellent accounts of the mechanisms underlying eye movement behaviour during reading for comprehension. This work enables us to further examine how the co-ordination of very different processes (linguistic processing and eye movement control) may be modulated by task demands or goals. We begin by outlining the type of scanning examined here and the processes that may be involved in this reading behaviour. We highlight the importance of examining the nature of lexical processing for different types of reading behaviour and review previous studies that have manipulated task and word frequency. We explore how the distribution of fixation durations can provide insights into the mechanisms underlying eye movement control during scanning for a topic and reading for comprehension

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