Eye movements during repeated reading of a text

Abstract

The facilitation of eye movements was studied in two experiments involving a repeated reading paradigm. A text was read three times. Initial reading was immediately followed by the first repetition; the second repetition took place one week later. Recall task instructions were used to encourage a detailed reading of the text. The data were analysed sentence by sentence from the ‘first pass’ readings not including returns to earlier text locations. A general facilitation for all eye movement parameters was found. Repetition decreased the summed fixation time, the average fixation duration, the number of progressive fixations, and the number of regressions. Additionally, repetition increased saccade lengths. Experiment 2 further qualified the general facilitatory effect. The middle section of the text, being the most dense of information, was devoted the most visual attention by the readers. Moreover, it was also found to produce the largest degree of facilitation due to repetition. This was true with all other eye movement parameters except saccade length and average fixation duration. Average fixation durations were longer in the beginning of a text than in the end. This was true in all the three readings. Similarly, for each reading, highly important sentences received more visual attention than unimportant sentences.