Abstract
Eye movements were recorded while competent readers of English and Chinese read in their respective languages. There were no important differences in oculometric patterns of fixation pause durations for Chinese and American readers, suggesting that cognitive aspects of reading are more important than perceptual ones in determining eye movement patterns and fixation pauses of competent readers. An analysis of undershoot saccades associated with return of the eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line suggests that these occur more frequently during reading than during the performance of similar eye movements that are more perceptually determined, however, the amount of undershoot does not discriminate between readers of alphabetic and logographic texts.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartz, A. E. Fixation errors in eye movements to peripheral stimuli.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1967,75, 4, 444–446.
Becker, G. R. The control of eye movements in the saccadic system.Bibliotheca Ophthalmology, 1972,82, 233–243.
Becker, G. R., and Fuchs, A. F. Further properties of the human saccadic system: eye movements and correction saccades with and without visual fixation points.Vision Research, 1969,9, 1247–1258.
Dixon, W. R. Studies of the eye movements in reading of university professors and graduate students. InStudies in the Psychology of Reading. University of Michigan Monographs in Education, no. 4, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1951, 113–178.
Dong, Hu-tong.Outline Linguistics. Tawain: 1960.
Elkind, D., and Weiss, J. Studies in perceptual development: III. Perceptual exploration.Child Development, 1967,55, 1153–1161.
Gau, Mink Kai.An Introduction to Linguistics. Beijing: Science Press, 1965.
Gibson, E. J., and Levin, H.The Psychology of Reading. Cambridge, Mass: The M.I.T. Press, 1975.
Goltz, T. H. Comparison of the eye movements of skilled and less-skilled readers. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., December, 1975.
Goodman, K. S. The psycholinguistic nature of the reading process. In K. S. Goodman (Ed.),The Psycholinguistic Nature of the Reading Process. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1968.
Hawley, T. F., Stern, J. A., and Chen, S. C. Computer analysis of eye movements during reading.Reading World, 1974,13, 307–317.
Huey, E. G.The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading. Cambridge, Mass: The M.I.T. Press, 1908, republished 1968.
Hung, D. L., and Tzeng, O. J. D. Orthographic variation and visual information processing.Psychological Bulletin, 1981,90, 377–414.
Judd, C. H., and Buswell, G. Silent reading: a study of the various types.Supplementary Educational Monographs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1922, no. 23.
Kolers, P., A. Reading and knowing.Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1979,55, 106–117.
Komoda, M. K., Festinger, L., Phillips, L. J., Duckman, R. H., and Young, R. A. Some observations concerning saccadic eye movements.Vision Research, 1973,13, 1009–1020.
Kuegelmass, S., and Lieblich, A. Impact of learning to read a directionality in perception: a further cross cultural analysis.Human Development, 1979,22, 406–415.
Levy-Schoen, A., and O’Regan, K. The control of eye movements in reading. In P. A. Kolers, M. E. Wrolstad, and H. Bouma (Eds.),Processing of Visible Language VI. New York: Plenum Press, 1977.
McConkie, G. W., and Rayner, K. The span of the effective stimulus during a fixation in reading.Perception and Psychophysics, 1975,17, 6, 578–586.
Nomura, Y. Data driven and conceptually driven processing in the reading of Kanji and Kana script.Psychologia. InInternational Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 1981,24, 65–74.
Oster, P., and Stern, J. A. Measurement of eye movement electrooculography. In I. Martin and P. H. Venables (Eds.),Techniques in Psychophysiology. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1980.
Rayner, K. Eye movements in reading and information processing.Psychological Bulletin, 1978,55, 618–660.
Saint Exupery, A. de.,Le Petit Prince, translated from the French by K. Wood,The Little Prince. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1943.
Shen, E. An analysis of eye movements in the reading of Chinese.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1927,10, 158–183.
Stern, J. A. Eye movements, reading and cognition. In J. W. Senders, D. F. Fisher, and R. A. Monty (Eds.),Eye Movements and the Higher Psychological Functions. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1978.
Taylor, H. G. Age differences in peripheral letter perception.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 1982,5, 106–112.
Taylor, S. E., Frankenpohl, H., and Pettee, J. L. Grade level norms for the components of the fundamental reading skill. Ed1 Research and Information Bulletin. Huntington, New York: Educational Development Laboratories, 1963, no. 3.
Walker, R. Y. The eye movements of good readers. InStudies in Experimental and Theoretical Psychology. University of Iowa Studies in Psychology, no. 17, Psychological Monographs, 1933,44, 95–117.
Weber, R. B., and Daroff, R. B. The metrics of horizontal saccadic eye movements on normal humans.Vision Research, 1971,11, 921–928.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peng, D.L., Orchard, L.N. & Stern, J.A. Evaluation of eye movement variables of Chinese and American readers. Pav. J. Biol. Sci. 18, 94–102 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03001861
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03001861