Journal of Eye Movement Research

17 pages, 381 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Individual Differences in Eye-Movements During Reading: Working Memory and Speed-of-Processing Effects

by Matthew J. Traxler, Clinton L. Johns, Debra L. Long, Megan Zirnstein, Kristen M. Tooley and Eunike Jonathan

J. Eye Mov. Res. 2012, 5(1), 1-17; https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.5.1.5 - 2 Apr 2012

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 71

Abstract

Theories of eye-movement control in reading should ultimately describe how differences in knowledge and cognitive abilities affect reading and comprehension. Current mathematical models of eye-movement control do not yet incorporate individual differences as a source of variation in reading, although developmental and groupdifference effects have been studied. These models nonetheless provide an excellent foundation for describing and explaining how and why patterns of eye-movements differ across readers (e.g., Rayner, Chace, & Ashby, 2006). Our focus in this article is on two aspects of individual variation: global processing speed (e.g., Salthouse, 1996) and working-memory capacity (e.g., Just & Carpenter, 1992). Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2001), we tested the extent to which overall reading speed and working-memory capacity moderate the degree to which syntactic and semantic information affect fixation times. Previous published data (Traxler et al., 2005) showed that working memory capacity and syntactic complexity interacted to determine fixation times in an eye-movement monitoring experiment. In a new set of models based on this same data set, we found that working-memory capacity interacted with sentencecharacteristic variables only when processing speed was not included in the model. We interpret these findings with respect to current accounts of sentence processing and suggest how they might be incorporated into eye-movement control models. Full article

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15 pages, 2792 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simple Way to Estimate Similarity Between Pairs of Eye Movement Sequences

by Sebastiaan Mathôt, Filipe Cristino, Iain D. Gilchrist and Jan Theeuwes

J. Eye Mov. Res. 2012, 5(1), 1-15; https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.5.1.4 - 22 Mar 2012

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 63

Abstract

We propose a novel algorithm to estimate the similarity between a pair of eye movement sequences. The proposed algorithm relies on a straight-forward geometric representation of eye movement data. The algorithm is considerably simpler to implement and apply than existing similarity measures, and is particularly suited for exploratory analyses. To validate the algorithm, we conducted a benchmark experiment using realistic artificial eye movement data. Based on similarity ratings obtained from the proposed algorithm, we defined two clusters in an unlabelled set of eye movement sequences. As a measure of the algorithm’s sensitivity, we quantified the extent to which these data-driven clusters matched two pre-defined groups (i.e., the ‘real’ clusters). The same analysis was performed using two other, commonly used similarity measures. The results show that the proposed algorithm is a viable similarity measure. Full article

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10 pages, 195 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spoken Language-Mediated Anticipatory Eye-Movements Are Modulated by Reading Ability—Evidence from Indian Low and High Literates

by Ramesh K. Mishra, Niharika Singh, Aparna Pandey and Falk Huettig

J. Eye Mov. Res. 2012, 5(1), 1-10; https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.5.1.3 - 14 Mar 2012

Cited by 72 | Viewed by 92

Abstract

We investigated whether levels of reading ability attained through formal literacy are related to anticipatory language-mediated eye movements. Indian low and high literates listened to simple spoken sentences containing a target word (e.g., “door”) while at the same time looking at a visual display of four objects (a target, i.e., the door, and three distractors). The spoken sentences were constructed in such a way that participants could use semantic, associative, and syntactic information from adjectives and particles (preceding the critical noun) to anticipate the visual target objects. High literates started to shift their eye gaze to the target objects well before target word onset. In the low literacy group this shift of eye gaze occurred only when the target noun (i.e., “door”) was heard, more than a second later. Our findings suggest that formal literacy may be important for the fine-tuning of languagemediated anticipatory mechanisms, abilities which proficient language users can then exploit for other cognitive activities such as spoken language-mediated eye gaze. In the conclusion, we discuss three potential mechanisms of how reading acquisition and practice may contribute to the differences in predictive spoken language processing between low and high literates. Full article

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11 pages, 734 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scanpath Eye Movements During Visual Mental Imagery in a Simulated Hemianopia Paradigm

by Thomas G. Liman and Wolfgang H. Zangemeister

J. Eye Mov. Res. 2012, 5(1), 1-11; https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.5.1.2 - 25 Feb 2012

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 62

Abstract

Several studies have shown that eye movements (EM) are functionally involved in visual imagery. In this study we investigate the impact of a simulated homonymous hemianopia paradigm (SH) with and without foveal masking on scanpath eye movements during visual mental imagery. EM of twenty subjects were recorded under SH condition during viewing and subsequent visual imagery of complex pictures. Using evaluated string editing methods viewing and imagery scanpaths were compared. Our results show that scanpath EM are involved in visual mental imagery and reflect the picture content even under SH. In contrast, additional foveal masking significantly reduces the similarity between viewing and imagery scanpath. This points toward a detrimental effect of foveal masking on subsequent visual imagery performance. Full article

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13 pages, 1441 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Saccadic Adaptation on Sequences of Saccades

by Muriel Panouillères, Roméo Salemme, Christian Urquizar and Denis Pélisson

J. Eye Mov. Res. 2012, 5(1), 1-13; https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.5.1.1 - 24 Feb 2012

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 45

Abstract

Accuracy of saccadic eye movements is maintained thanks to adaptation mechanisms. The adaptive lengthening and shortening of reactive and voluntary saccades rely on partially separate neural substrates. Although in daily-life we mostly perform sequences of saccades, the effect of saccadic adaptation has been mainly evaluated on single saccades. Here, sequences of two saccades were recorded before and after adaptation of rightward saccades. In 4 separate sessions, reactive and voluntary saccades were adaptively shortened or lengthened. We found that the second saccade of the sequence always remained accurate and compensated for the adaptive changes of the first rightward saccade size. This finding suggests that adaptation loci are upstream of the site where the efference copy involved in sequence planning originates. Full article

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J. Eye Mov. Res., Volume 5, Issue 1 (April 2012) – 5 articles

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