TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty on the eye movements of young and older readers
AU - Rayner, Keith
AU - Reichle, Erik D.
AU - Stroud, Michael J.
AU - Williams, Carrick C.
AU - Pollatsek, Alexander
PY - 2006/9
Y1 - 2006/9
N2 - Young adult and older readers' eye movements were recorded as they read sentences containing target words that varied in frequency or predictability. In addition, half of the sentences were printed in a font that was easy to read (Times New Roman) and the other half were printed in a font that was more difficult to read (Old English). Word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty effects were apparent in the eye movement data of both groups of readers. In the fixation time data, the pattern of results was the same, but the older readers had larger frequency and predictability effects than the younger readers. The older readers skipped words more often than the younger readers (as indicated by their skipping rate on selected target words), but they made more regressions back to the target words and more regressions overall. The E-Z Reader model was used as a platform to evaluate the results, and simulations using the model suggest that lexical processing is slowed in older readers and that, possibly as a result of this, they adopt a more risky reading strategy.
AB - Young adult and older readers' eye movements were recorded as they read sentences containing target words that varied in frequency or predictability. In addition, half of the sentences were printed in a font that was easy to read (Times New Roman) and the other half were printed in a font that was more difficult to read (Old English). Word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty effects were apparent in the eye movement data of both groups of readers. In the fixation time data, the pattern of results was the same, but the older readers had larger frequency and predictability effects than the younger readers. The older readers skipped words more often than the younger readers (as indicated by their skipping rate on selected target words), but they made more regressions back to the target words and more regressions overall. The E-Z Reader model was used as a platform to evaluate the results, and simulations using the model suggest that lexical processing is slowed in older readers and that, possibly as a result of this, they adopt a more risky reading strategy.
KW - aging and reading
KW - eye movements
KW - reading
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33749005107&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0882-7974.21.3.448
DO - 10.1037/0882-7974.21.3.448
M3 - Article
C2 - 16953709
AN - SCOPUS:33749005107
VL - 21
SP - 448
EP - 465
JO - Psychology and Aging
JF - Psychology and Aging
SN - 0882-7974
IS - 3
ER -