Effects of adult aging on letter position coding in reading: Evidence from eye movements.

Abstract

It is well-established that young adults encode letter position flexibly during natural reading. However, given the visual changes that occur with normal aging, it is important to establish whether letter position coding is equivalent across adulthood. In 2 experiments, young (18–25 years) and older (65+ years) adults’ were recorded while reading sentences with words containing transposed adjacent letters. Transpositions occurred at beginning ( rpoblem ), internal ( porblem ), or end ( problme ) locations in words. In Experiment 1, these transpositions were present throughout reading. By comparison, Experiment 2 used a gaze-contingent paradigm such that once the reader’s gaze moved past a word containing a transposition, this word was shown correctly and did not subsequently change. Both age groups showed normal levels of comprehension for text including words with transposed letters. The pattern of letter transposition effects on eye movements was similar for the young and older adults, with greater increases in reading times when external relative to internal letters were transposed. In Experiment 1, however, effects of word beginning transpositions during rereading were larger for the older adults. In Experiment 2 there were no interactions, confirming that letter position coding is similar for both age groups at least during first-pass processing of words. These findings show that flexibility in letter position encoding during the initial processing of words is preserved across adulthood, although the interaction effect in rereading in Experiment 1 also suggests that older readers may use more stringent postlexical verification processes, for which the accuracy of word beginning letters is especially important.

Perceptual span is independent of font size for older and young readers: Evidence from Chinese.

“…These findings suggest that the older adults experienced greater reading difficulty and resonate with previous findings on adult age differences in eye movements when reading Chinese or alphabetic languages (e.g., S. Li et al, 2018; Wang, Li, Li, Xie, Chang, et al, 2018; Wang, Li, Li, Xie, Liversedge, et al, 2018; Warrington et al, 2018, 2019; Xie et al, 2019). Also consistent with previous findings for Chinese language reading, the older adults made shorter progressive saccades compared with the young adults (e.g., S.…”

“…It is therefore noteworthy that substantial evidence indicates older adults (60+ years) typically experience greater reading difficulty than young adults (18–30 years) during alphabetic (e.g., English) or logographic (e.g., Chinese) reading and so have slower reading speeds and make more and longer fixations, despite typically achieving similar levels of comprehension in eye-movement experiments (e.g., Kliegl, Grabner, Rolfs, & Engbert, 2004; McGowan, White, Jordan, & Paterson, 2014; Paterson, McGowan, & Jordan, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c; Rayner, Reichle, Stroud, Williams, & Pollatsek, 2006; Rayner et al, 2014; S. Li, Li, Wang, McGowan, & Paterson, 2018; Wang, Li, Li, Xie, Chang, et al, 2018; Wang, Li, Li, Xie, Liversedge, et al, 2018; Warrington, McGowan, Paterson, & White, 2018, 2019; Whitford & Titone, 2016, 2017; Xie et al, 2019; Zang et al, 2016), although note that in-depth offline assessments of comprehension often report age differences (see DeDe & Flax, 2016; Stine-Morrow & Radvansky, 2017; Thornton & Light, 2006; Wingfield & Stine-Morrow, 2000).…”

A further look at ageing and word predictability effects in Chinese reading: Evidence from one-character words

“…It remains to be more fully understood, however, whether this predictive use of context changes across the adult lifespan (for reviews, see Gordon et al, 2015; Paterson et al, 2020). Research on normative ageing shows that older adults (aged 65+ years) read more slowly than young adults (aged 18–30 years), by making more and longer fixations, and more backwards eye movements (regressions; e.g., Kliegl et al, 2004; McGowan et al, 2014; Paterson et al, 2013a, 2013b; Rayner et al, 2006; Stine-Morrow et al, 2010; Warrington et al, 2018, 2019; Whitford & Titone, 2016, 2017). Again, these effects have been investigated primarily with alphabetic scripts, although recent studies show similar effects in Chinese (L.…”

Older adults make greater use of word predictability in Chinese reading.

“…Understanding how the influence of these variables changes with reading development (see, e.g., Blythe, 2014), and as a consequence of visual and cognitive decline in older age (see, e.g., Gordon, Lowder, & Hoedemaker, 2015), is important for understanding how reading behavior changes across the life span and for the future development of the theoretical models. Research on normative aging effects, in particular, shows that healthy older adults (65+ years) read more slowly than young adults (18–30 years), by making more and longer fixations and more regressions (backward eye movements; e.g., Kliegl et al, 2004; McGowan, White, Jordan, & Paterson, 2014; Paterson et al, 2013a, 2013b; Rayner et al, 2006; Stine-Morrow et al, 2010; Warrington, McGowan, Paterson, & White, 2018, 2019; Whitford & Titone, 2016, 2017). Moreover, a similar slowdown is observed in Chinese reading (S.…”