Using eye movements from a “read-only” task to predict text comprehension

Recent research on the use of eye movements to predict performance on reading comprehension tasks suggests that while eye movements may be used to measure comprehension, the relationship between eye-movement behavior and comprehension is influenced by differences in task demands between comprehension measures. In this study, we examined the usefulness of eye movements collected during reading with no additional task demands (a “read-only” condition) to predict comprehension ability as measured by a recall task. We collected eye-movement behavior from adult native speakers of English (N = 62, 46 females, mean age 26 years) while they read nine passages of fictional text in two conditions: a read-only condition with no additional task, and a recall condition where participants were asked to recall the story after reading it. We ran Bayesian logistic regression models to predict performance on the recall tasks from standard eye-tracking measures collected during the two reading conditions (read-only and recall). Eye-tracking measures collected in the read-only and recall conditions were both useful in predicting reading comprehension as measured by recall scores. Additionally, the relationship between eye-movement behavior and recall performance was similar for both reading conditions. In both cases, a combination of early and late measures was the best predictors of performance on the recall task. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of eye movements collected during reading with no additional task as predictors of reading comprehension ability.