Predictability and parafoveal preview effects in the developing reader: Evidence from eye movements.

Abstract

The current study utilized the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975) to examine the effects of predictability and parafoveal preview on reading behavior of developing readers. Participants ranging in age from 6- to 12-years-old read target words placed in a predictable or neutral context. Target words were manipulated to give either a valid identity preview, a visually similar preview that provided partial letter identity information, or a visually dissimilar preview where all of the letters were substituted. Developing readers fixated for a shorter duration on words in a predictable context. Furthermore, they showed significant preview effects and gained the most preview benefit from a full valid preview of the target word, especially within a predictable context. More skilled readers received more parafoveal information and relied less on context than less skilled readers. Implications for models of eye-movement control are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record