Time course of visual information utilization during fixations in reading.

Abstract

16 undergraduates read short texts from a cathode-ray tube as their eye movements were being monitored. During selected fixations, the text was briefly masked and then it reappeared with 1 word changed. Ss often were unaware that the word had changed. Sometimes they reported seeing the 1st presented word, sometimes the 2nd presented word, and sometimes both. When only 1 word was reported, 2 factors were found to determine which one it was: the length of time a word was present during the fixation and the predictability of a word in its context. Results suggest that visual information was utilized for reading at a crucial period during the fixation and that this crucial period could occur at different times on different fixations. The pattern of responses suggest that the first letter of a word was not utilized before other letters and that letters were not scanned from left to right during a fixation. (29 ref)

The effects of pronoun processing on information utilization during fixations in reading

“…However, to test this, some neutral comparison is needed. The best available comparison is the pattern observed in Blanchard, et al (1984). Consistent with this new prediction, the word present first in the fixations was reported more often than the second, unlike Blanchard, et al's (1984) pattern, in which the probability of reporting the first or second word was nearly equal.…”

“…Consistent with this new prediction, the word present first in the fixations was reported more often than the second, unlike Blanchard, et al's (1984) pattern, in which the probability of reporting the first or second word was nearly equal. Table 2 presents the percentage of single word reports which were reports of the first and second words in this experiment and in Blanchard, et al (1984). Only the current experiment shows a significant difference by a chi-square test on the frequencies for first and second word reported (X(1,N = 16) = 17.63, p < .001).…”

“…Earlier experiments Blanchard, McConkie, Zola, & Wolverton, 1984) have shown that visual information is not utilized at the same point in every fixation. Visual information is sometimes utilized early in a fixation and sometimes late.…”

“…The same changing-letter procedure used by Blanchard, et al (1984) is used here and combined with a manipulation which is known to affect comprehension difficulty. The goal is to use a manipulation of comprehension processes to cause selective changes in the probability of reporting the first and second of the changing words.…”

“…Blanchard, et al (1984) introduced this as the variable utilization time hypothesis. They claimed that the time of utilization varies, sometimes early and sometimes late in the fixation.…”