Abstract
The present study examined the relationship between the predictability of words within a sentence and the availability of parafoveal word length information, on when and where the eyes move in reading. Predictability influenced first-pass reading times when parafoveal word length preview information was correct, but not when it was incorrect. Similarly, for saccades launched from near the target word (wordn), predictability influenced the probability with which it was skipped only when the word length preview was correct. By contrast, for saccades launched farther away from wordn, predictability influenced word skipping regardless of the parafoveal word length preview. Taken together, the data suggest that parafoveal word length preview and predictability can act as a joint constraint on the decision of when and where to move the eyes.
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This project was initiated when K.R. was awarded a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship at the University of Durham. The study was undertaken while S.J.W. and S.P.L. were on research visits to the University of Massachusetts. S.J.W. was supported by an Experimental Psychology Society Study Visit Grant. S.P.L. was supported by a British Academy Research Visit Award. This research was also supported by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Grant 12/S19168 and National Institutes of Health Grant HD26765. Portions of the data were presented at the European Conference on Eye Movements (Dundee, Scotland, August 2003) and the Psychonomic Society (Vancouver, Canada, November 2003).
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White, S.J., Rayner, K. & Liversedge, S.P. The influence of parafoveal word length and contextual constraint on fixation durations and word skipping in reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 12, 466–471 (2005). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193789
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193789