TY - JOUR
T1 - How does foveal processing difficulty affect parafoveal processing during reading?
AU - Veldre, Aaron
AU - Andrews, Sally
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Models of eye movement control during reading assume that the difficulty of processing word n in a sentence modulates the depth of processing of the upcoming word/s (word n + 1) in the parafovea. This foveal load hypothesis is widely accepted in the literature despite surprisingly few clear replications of the basic effect. We sought to establish whether observing a foveal load effect depends on the type of parafoveal preview used in the boundary paradigm. Participants’ eye movements were recorded in two experiments as they read sentences in which a low- or high-frequency word n—a typical manipulation of foveal load—preceded a critical target word. Prior to the reader making a saccade to word n + 1, the parafoveal preview was either identical to word n + 1; an orthographically similar word or nonword; or an unrelated word or nonword. The results revealed that the critical evidence for a foveal load effect—an interaction between word n frequency and word n + 1 preview—was limited to conditions in which the invalid preview baseline was an orthographically illegal nonword. The remaining conditions produced completely additive effects of the two factors. These findings raise questions about the mechanisms underlying the spillover of foveal processing difficulty to parafoveal words. The implications for theories of reading are discussed.
AB - Models of eye movement control during reading assume that the difficulty of processing word n in a sentence modulates the depth of processing of the upcoming word/s (word n + 1) in the parafovea. This foveal load hypothesis is widely accepted in the literature despite surprisingly few clear replications of the basic effect. We sought to establish whether observing a foveal load effect depends on the type of parafoveal preview used in the boundary paradigm. Participants’ eye movements were recorded in two experiments as they read sentences in which a low- or high-frequency word n—a typical manipulation of foveal load—preceded a critical target word. Prior to the reader making a saccade to word n + 1, the parafoveal preview was either identical to word n + 1; an orthographically similar word or nonword; or an unrelated word or nonword. The results revealed that the critical evidence for a foveal load effect—an interaction between word n frequency and word n + 1 preview—was limited to conditions in which the invalid preview baseline was an orthographically illegal nonword. The remaining conditions produced completely additive effects of the two factors. These findings raise questions about the mechanisms underlying the spillover of foveal processing difficulty to parafoveal words. The implications for theories of reading are discussed.
KW - reading
KW - eye movements
KW - parafoveal preview benefit
KW - foveal load hypothesis
KW - semantic preview effects
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85051002830&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160103224
U2 - 10.1016/j.jml.2018.08.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jml.2018.08.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85051002830
SN - 0749-596X
VL - 103
SP - 74
EP - 90
JO - Journal of Memory and Language
JF - Journal of Memory and Language
ER -