Parafoveal processing efficiency in rapid automatized naming: A comparison between Chinese normal and dyslexic children

Abstract

Dyslexic children are known to be slower than normal readers in rapid automatized naming (RAN). This suggests that dyslexics encounter local processing difficulties, which presumably induce a narrower perceptual span. Consequently, dyslexics should suffer less than normal readers from removing parafoveal preview. Here we used a gaze-contingent moving-window paradigm in a RAN task to experimentally test this prediction. Results indicate that dyslexics extract less parafoveal information than control children. We propose that more attentional resources are recruited to the foveal processing because of dyslexics’ less automatized translation of visual symbols into phonological output, thereby causing a reduction of the perceptual span. This in turn leads to less efficient pre-activation of parafoveal information and hence more difficult in processing the next foveal item.

Saccade-target selection of dyslexic children when reading Chinese

“…Although many results of the present study can be explained by either word-based or random models, these two hypotheses can be teased apart. As we discussed above, the three-way interaction indicates that dyslexics are less skillful in word segmentation, presumably due to their smaller perceptual span (Yan et al, 2013), and thus the result is neatly in accordance with the word-based saccade-target hypothesis (Yan et al, 2010). We fail to see how this can be accounted for by the random model.…”

“…The diagnosis of dyslexia was based on criteria previously established in studies in mainland China (e.g., Pan et al, 2013; Yan et al, 2013). Because Chinese is an extremely opaque orthography, we evaluated each child's literacy skill level by measuring their reading accuracy using a standard character recognition test with 150 characters that are expected to be learned by grade 6 (Shu et al, 2003) ordered by difficulty.…”

“…In the present study, we aim to provide evidence that the FLP acts as an indicator of parafoveal word segmentation from a reading development and impairment perspective. Given the smaller perceptual span of Chinese dyslexic children (Yan et al, 2013), if they are more affected by the absence of word boundaries, we expect a larger difference in saccade-targeting of first-fixation landing positions between dyslexic readers and control readers in single-fixation cases than in multi-fixation cases.…”

“…For example, the character string “花生长” can be parsed as either “花/生长” (flower growth) or “花生/长” (peanut growth) in different contexts; an equivalent example in English might be fangear, which can be parsed as fang ear or fan gear (see Libben, 1994, for more examples of ambiguous compounds). Given that the perceptual span extends between one character to the left and up to four characters to the right of the current fixation point in skilled readers of Chinese (Inhoff & Liu, 1998; Yan et al, 2014b), and that most Chinese words are single-character or two-character words, skilled readers of Chinese should be able to segment character strings into word units in the parafovea in most cases; however, the lack of explicit word boundaries might impose parafoveal word segmentation difficulties for developing and dyslexic readers, who typically have smaller perceptual spans in both alphabetic (e.g., Rayner, 1986) and Chinese scripts (Yan, Pan, Laubrock, Kliegl, & Shu, 2013). …”

When preview information starts to matter: Development of the perceptual span in German beginning readers

“…In adult readers, the demand to stay synchronised with the relatively slow articulation limits the amount of preview that can be obtained by the eye (Laubrock & Bohn, 2008); in beginning readers, it is additionally limited by the slow and effortful translation of alphanumeric visual symbols into phonological codes (Yan, Pan, Laubrock, Shu & Kliegl, 2013).…”