Eye movement control in reading: accounting for initial fixation locations and refixations within the E-Z Reader model

Reilly and O'Regan (1998, Vision Research, 38, 303-317) used computer simulations to evaluate how well several different word-targeting strategies could account for results which show that the distributions of fixation locations in reading are systematically related to low-level oculomotor variables, such as saccade distance and launch site [McConkie, Kerr, Reddix and Zola, (1988). Vision Research, 28, 1107-1118]. Their simulation results suggested that fixation locations are primarily determined by word length information, and that the processing of language, such as the identification of words, plays only a minimal role in deciding where to move the eyes. This claim appears to be problematic for our model of eye movement control in reading, E-Z Reader [Rayner, Reichle and Pollatsek (1998). Eye movement control in reading: an overview and model. In G. Underwood, Eye guidance in reading and scene perception (pp. 243-268). Oxford, UK: Elsevier; Reichle, Pollatsek, Fisher and Rayner (1998). Psychological Review, 105, 125-157], because it assumes that lexical access is the engine that drives the eyes forward during reading. However, we show that a newer version of E-Z Reader which still assumes that lexical access is the engine driving eye movements also predicts the locations of fixations and within-word refixations, and therefore provides a viable framework for understanding how both linguistic and oculomotor variables affect eye movements in reading.