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Journal ArticleDOI

Parafoveal processing in reading.

01 Jan 2012-Attention Perception & Psychophysics (Springer-Verlag)-Vol. 74, Iss: 1, pp 5-35
TL;DR: Research investigating how words are identified parafoveally (and foveally) in reading is summarized, and the extent to which words are processed at each of the levels of representation is summarized.
Abstract: The present review summarizes research investigating how words are identified parafoveally (and foveally) in reading. Parafoveal and foveal processing are compared when no other concurrent task is required (e.g., in single-word recognition tasks) and when both are required simultaneously (e.g., during reading). We first review methodologies used to study parafoveal processing (e.g., corpus analyses and experimental manipulations, including gaze-contingent display change experiments such as the boundary, moving window, moving mask, and fast priming paradigms). We then turn to a discussion of the levels of representation at which words are processed (e.g., orthographic, phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and semantic). Next, we review relevant research regarding parafoveal processing, summarizing the extent to which words are processed at each of those levels of representation. We then review some of the most controversial aspects of parafoveal processing, as they relate to reading: (1) word skipping, (2) parafoveal-on-foveal effects, and (3) n + 1 and n + 2 preview benefit effects. Finally, we summarize two of the most advanced models of eye movements during reading and how they address foveal and parafoveal processing.

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Citations
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Book Chapter
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: This chapter provides a meta-analysis of the factors that govern word skipping in reading and concludes that the primary predictor is the length of the word to be skipped.
Abstract: This chapter provides a meta-analysis of the factors that govern word skipping in reading. It is concluded that the primary predictor is the length of the word to be skipped. A much smaller effect is due to the processing ease of the word (e.g., the frequency of the word and its predictability in the sentence).

250 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article reviews the extensive literature that has investigated the influence of a word's predictability in its context on eye movements in reading, focusing on several specific empirical issues.
Abstract: A word's predictability in its context has a reliable influence on eye movements in reading. This article reviews the extensive literature that has investigated this influence, focusing on several specific empirical issues. These include assessment of cloze probability as the critical measure of predictability, the form of the relationship between predictability and reading time, the distributional effects of predictability, the interaction between predictability and word frequency, and the interaction between predictability and parafoveal preview. On the basis of this review, two theoretical conclusions are proposed. First, predictability effects in reading result from graded activation of potentially many words, as opposed to discrete prediction of a specific word. Second, this activation has the effect of facilitating either very early stages of lexical processing or pre-lexical processing of visual features or letters.

166 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The research shows that there is a trade-off between speed and accuracy, and the way to maintain high comprehension and get through text faster is to practice reading and to become a more skilled language user (e.g., through increased vocabulary).
Abstract: The prospect of speed reading--reading at an increased speed without any loss of comprehension--has undeniable appeal. Speed reading has been an intriguing concept for decades, at least since Evelyn Wood introduced her Reading Dynamics training program in 1959. It has recently increased in popularity, with speed-reading apps and technologies being introduced for smartphones and digital devices. The current article reviews what the scientific community knows about the reading process--a great deal--and discusses the implications of the research findings for potential students of speed-reading training programs or purchasers of speed-reading apps. The research shows that there is a trade-off between speed and accuracy. It is unlikely that readers will be able to double or triple their reading speeds (e.g., from around 250 to 500-750 words per minute) while still being able to understand the text as well as if they read at normal speed. If a thorough understanding of the text is not the reader's goal, then speed reading or skimming the text will allow the reader to get through it faster with moderate comprehension. The way to maintain high comprehension and get through text faster is to practice reading and to become a more skilled language user (e.g., through increased vocabulary). This is because language skill is at the heart of reading speed.

165 citations


Cites background from "Parafoveal processing in reading."

  • ...As we have discussed, a large body of research using the moving-window paradigm (see Rayner, 2014) and boundary paradigm (see Schotter et al., 2012) has shown that information from more than just the currently fixated word is used....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A specialized system for parallel letter processing that assigns letter identities to different locations along the horizontal meridian within the limits imposed by visual acuity and crowding is described.

150 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This guide describes best practices in using eye tracking technology for research in a variety of disciplines and provides guidance on how to select and use an eye tracker as well as selecting appropriate eye tracking measures.

146 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper explores one aspect of cognition through the use of a simple model task in which human subjects are asked to commit attention to a position in visual space other than fixation by orienting a covert mechanism that seems sufficiently time locked to external events that its trajectory can be traced across the visual field in terms of momentary changes in the efficiency of detecting stimuli.
Abstract: Bartlett viewed thinking as a high level skill exhibiting ballistic properties that he called its “point of no return”. This paper explores one aspect of cognition through the use of a simple model...

9,130 citations

Book
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models is a comprehensive manual for the applied researcher who wants to perform data analysis using linear and nonlinear regression and multilevel models.
Abstract: Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models is a comprehensive manual for the applied researcher who wants to perform data analysis using linear and nonlinear regression and multilevel models. The book introduces a wide variety of models, whilst at the same time instructing the reader in how to fit these models using available software packages. The book illustrates the concepts by working through scores of real data examples that have arisen from the authors' own applied research, with programming codes provided for each one. Topics covered include causal inference, including regression, poststratification, matching, regression discontinuity, and instrumental variables, as well as multilevel logistic regression and missing-data imputation. Practical tips regarding building, fitting, and understanding are provided throughout.

9,098 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an introduction to mixed-effects models for the analysis of repeated measurement data with subjects and items as crossed random effects, and a worked-out example of how to use recent software for mixed effects modeling is provided.

6,853 citations


"Parafoveal processing in reading." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Since we expected that frequent skipping of the three-letter target words and exclusion of delayed display changes would lead to unequal cell sizes, inferential statistics are reported based on linear mixed models (LMM) with subjects and items as crossed random effects (Baayen et al., 2008)....

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  • ...Inferential statistics are reported based on linear mixed models (LMM) with subjects and items as crossed random effects (Baayen et al., 2008)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The basic theme of the review is that eye movement data reflect moment-to-moment cognitive processes in the various tasks examined.
Abstract: Recent studies of eye movements in reading and other information processing tasks, such as music reading, typing, visual search, and scene perception, are reviewed. The major emphasis of the review is on reading as a specific example of cognitive processing. Basic topics discussed with respect to reading are (a) the characteristics of eye movements, (b) the perceptual span, (c) integration of information across saccades, (d) eye movement control, and (e) individual differences (including dyslexia). Similar topics are discussed with respect to the other tasks examined. The basic theme of the review is that eye movement data reflect moment-to-moment cognitive processes in the various tasks examined. Theoretical and practical considerations concerning the use of eye movement data are also discussed.

6,656 citations


"Parafoveal processing in reading." refers background in this paper

  • ...Given that the average fixation duration in reading is around 250 ms (Rayner, 1998), that leaves only the first 75-125 ms to make the decision to program a skipping saccade....

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  • ...…which they obtain useful information) extending from 3–4 letter spaces to the left of fixation3 (McConkie & Rayner, 1976; Rayner, Well, & Pollatsek, 1980) to 14–15 letter spaces to the right of fixation (McConkie & Rayner, 1975; Rayner & Bertera, 1979; see Rayner, 1998, 2009, for further reviews)....

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  • ...…age of acquisition (the age at which the word was learned), word predictability (how predictable a word is, given the prior context), word length, neighborhood size (how many words can be formed by changing one letter in the word), and so on (for reviews, see Hyönä, 2011; Rayner, 1998, 2009)....

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  • ...This can be considered a preview benefit effect (Rayner, 1998)....

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  • ...…dyslexic readers (Rayner, Murphy, Henderson, & Pollatsek, 1989) have smaller spans than do skilled readers; (2) faster 3 See Binder, Pollatsek, and Rayner (1998) for further discussion of processing information to the left of fixation when reading English. readers (around 330 wpm) have a larger…...

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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This study addresses the question of how simple networks of neuron-like elements can account for a variety of phenomena associated with this shift of selective visual attention and suggests a possible role for the extensive back-projection from the visual cortex to the LGN.
Abstract: Psychophysical and physiological evidence indicates that the visual system of primates and humans has evolved a specialized processing focus moving across the visual scene. This study addresses the question of how simple networks of neuron-like elements can account for a variety of phenomena associated with this shift of selective visual attention. Specifically, we propose the following: (1) A number of elementary features, such as color, orientation, direction of movement, disparity etc. are represented in parallel in different topographical maps, called the early representation. (2) There exists a selective mapping from the early topographic representation into a more central non-topographic representation, such that at any instant the central representation contains the properties of only a single location in the visual scene, the selected location. We suggest that this mapping is the principal expression of early selective visual attention. One function of selective attention is to fuse information from different maps into one coherent whole. (3) Certain selection rules determine which locations will be mapped into the central representation. The major rule, using the conspicuity of locations in the early representation, is implemented using a so-called Winner-Take-All network. Inhibiting the selected location in this network causes an automatic shift towards the next most conspicious location. Additional rules are proximity and similarity preferences. We discuss how these rules can be implemented in neuron-like networks and suggest a possible role for the extensive back-projection from the visual cortex to the LGN.

3,930 citations


"Parafoveal processing in reading." refers background in this paper

  • ...In visual search, it has been argued that subjects use parafoveal information, represented in a saliency map, to guide their eye movements (Koch & Ullman, 1985)....

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