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Melcher D, Alaberkyan A, Anastasaki C, Liu X, Deodato M, Marsicano G, Almeida D. An early effect of the parafoveal preview on post-saccadic processing of English words. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02916-4. [PMID: 38956003 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02916-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
A key aspect of efficient visual processing is to use current and previous information to make predictions about what we will see next. In natural viewing, and when looking at words, there is typically an indication of forthcoming visual information from extrafoveal areas of the visual field before we make an eye movement to an object or word of interest. This "preview effect" has been studied for many years in the word reading literature and, more recently, in object perception. Here, we integrated methods from word recognition and object perception to investigate the timing of the preview on neural measures of word recognition. Through a combined use of EEG and eye-tracking, a group of multilingual participants took part in a gaze-contingent, single-shot saccade experiment in which words appeared in their parafoveal visual field. In valid preview trials, the same word was presented during the preview and after the saccade, while in the invalid condition, the saccade target was a number string that turned into a word during the saccade. As hypothesized, the valid preview greatly reduced the fixation-related evoked response. Interestingly, multivariate decoding analyses revealed much earlier preview effects than previously reported for words, and individual decoding performance correlated with participant reading scores. These results demonstrate that a parafoveal preview can influence relatively early aspects of post-saccadic word processing and help to resolve some discrepancies between the word and object literatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Melcher
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Center for Brain and Health, NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Ani Alaberkyan
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Chrysi Anastasaki
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Xiaoyi Liu
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Washington Rd, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Michele Deodato
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Center for Brain and Health, NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Gianluca Marsicano
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40121, Bologna, Italy
- Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Via Rasi e Spinelli 176, 47023, Cesena, Italy
| | - Diogo Almeida
- Psychology Program, Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Jhuo RA, Hui CI, Chen JK, Wang LC. The Relationships of Oral Reading Fluency at Word, Sentence, and Passage Levels and Reading Comprehension in Chinese. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2024; 53:42. [PMID: 38703330 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-024-10083-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
This study aims to expand our understanding of the relations of oral reading fluency at word, sentence, and passage levels to reading comprehension in Chinese-speaking secondary school-aged students. In total, 80 participants (46 males and 34 females) ranging from 13 to 15 years old joined this study and were tested on tasks of oral reading fluency at three levels, reading comprehension, and nonverbal IQ. Our results showed a clear relationship from fluency at the level of the word to the sentence and then the passage in oral reading fluency as well as both the direct and indirect importance of word-level oral reading fluency in reading comprehension. Only the indirect effect from word-level oral reading fluency to reading comprehension through passage-level oral reading fluency was significant. Our findings suggest that sentence-level oral reading fluency is the crucial component to reading comprehension in Chinese. Additionally, recognition of the potential value of unique features, such as syntactic awareness and word segment accuracy, that happen at the sentence level should be integrated into instructional activities for reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong-An Jhuo
- The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, Hong Kong
| | - Carr-Ie Hui
- Department of Special Education and Counselling, The Education University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong
| | - Ji-Kang Chen
- Department of Social Work, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong
| | - Li-Chih Wang
- Department of Special Education and Counselling, The Education University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong.
- Department of Special Education, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
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Chang M, Zhang K, Sun Y, Li S, Wang J. The graded predictive pre-activation in Chinese sentence reading: evidence from eye movements. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1136488. [PMID: 37457059 PMCID: PMC10342199 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research has revealed that graded pre-activation rather than specific lexical prediction is more likely to be the mechanism for the word predictability effect in English. However, whether graded pre-activation underlies the predictability effect in Chinese reading is unknown. Accordingly, the present study tested the generality of the graded pre-activation account in Chinese reading. We manipulated the contextual constraint of sentences and the predictability of target words as independent variables. Readers' eye movement behaviors were recorded via an eye tracker. We examined whether processing an unpredictable word in a solid constraining context incurs a prediction error cost when this unpredictable word has a predictable alternative. The results showed no cues of prediction error cost on the early eye movement measures, supported by the Bayes Factor analyses. The current research indicates that graded predictive pre-activation underlies the predictability effect in Chinese reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Chang
- School of Education Science, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Kuo Zhang
- Department of Social Psychology, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yue Sun
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Sha Li
- School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Jingxin Wang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
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Zhang M, Bai X, Li S. Word complexity modulates the divided-word effect during Chinese reading. Front Psychol 2022; 13:921056. [PMID: 36211923 PMCID: PMC9539553 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.921056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study examined the influence of word complexity on the divided-word effect. By manipulating presentation conditions (line-final presentation vs. divided-word presentation vs. line-initial presentation) and visual complexity (high vs. low), we found a significant divided-word effect that the reading times such as gaze duration and total reading time were significantly longer in the divided-word presentation condition than in both the line-final and line-initial presentation conditions. On the measure of total reading time, the marginally significant interaction between the divided-word versus line-final presentation comparison and complexity showed that the divided-word effect was larger for low complexity words than that for high complexity words. These results suggest that dividing a word across two lines interferes with reading, and word complexity modulates this effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingzhe Zhang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xuejun Bai
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
- Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
- *Correspondence: Xuejun Bai,
| | - Sainan Li
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
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AlJassmi MA, Warrington KL, McGowan VA, White SJ, Paterson KB. Effects of word predictability on eye movements during Arabic reading. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:10-24. [PMID: 34632557 PMCID: PMC8795001 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02375-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Contextual predictability influences both the probability and duration of eye fixations on words when reading Latinate alphabetic scripts like English and German. However, it is unknown whether word predictability influences eye movements in reading similarly for Semitic languages like Arabic, which are alphabetic languages with very different visual and linguistic characteristics. Such knowledge is nevertheless important for establishing the generality of mechanisms of eye-movement control across different alphabetic writing systems. Accordingly, we investigated word predictability effects in Arabic in two eye-movement experiments. Both produced shorter fixation times for words with high compared to low predictability, consistent with previous findings. Predictability did not influence skipping probabilities for (four- to eight-letter) words of varying length and morphological complexity (Experiment 1). However, it did for short (three- to four-letter) words with simpler structures (Experiment 2). We suggest that word-skipping is reduced, and affected less by contextual predictability, in Arabic compared to Latinate alphabetic reading, because of specific orthographic and morphological characteristics of the Arabic script.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam A AlJassmi
- Department of Psychology, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE.
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
| | - Kayleigh L Warrington
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Trent, UK
| | - Victoria A McGowan
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Sarah J White
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Kevin B Paterson
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
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Mirault J, Massol S, Grainger J. An algorithm for analyzing cloze test results. METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.metip.2021.100064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
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Cui L, Zang C, Xu X, Zhang W, Su Y, Liversedge SP. Predictability effects and parafoveal processing of compound words in natural Chinese reading. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:18-29. [PMID: 34507509 PMCID: PMC8600585 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211048193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We report a boundary paradigm eye movement experiment to investigate whether the
predictability of the second character of a two-character compound word affects
how it is processed prior to direct fixation during reading. The boundary was
positioned immediately prior to the second character of the target word, which
itself was either predictable or unpredictable. The preview was either a
pseudocharacter (nonsense preview) or an identity preview. We obtained clear
preview effects in all conditions, but more importantly, skipping probability
for the second character of the target word and the whole target word from
pretarget was greater when it was predictable than when it was not predictable
from the preceding context. Interactive effects for later measures on the whole
target word (gaze duration and go-past time) were also obtained. These results
demonstrate that predictability information from preceding sentential context
and information regarding the likely identity of upcoming characters are used
concurrently to constrain the nature of lexical processing during natural
Chinese reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Cui
- Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Chuanli Zang
- University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.,Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | | | | | - Yuhan Su
- Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
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Flexible parafoveal encoding of character order supports word predictability effects in Chinese reading: Evidence from eye movements. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 82:2793-2801. [PMID: 32406003 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-02050-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Several eye-movement studies have revealed flexibility in the parafoveal processing of character-order information in Chinese reading. In particular, studies show that processing a two-character word in a sentence benefits more from parafoveal preview of a nonword created by transposing rather than replacing its two characters. One issue that has not been investigated is whether the contextual predictability of the target word influences this processing of character order information. However, such a finding would provide novel evidence for an early influence of context on lexical processing in Chinese reading. Accordingly, we investigated this issue in an eye-movement experiment using the boundary paradigm and sentences containing two-character target words with high or low contextual predictability. Prior to the reader's gaze crossing an invisible boundary, each target word was shown normally (i.e. a valid preview) or with its two characters either transposed or replaced by unrelated characters to create invalid nonword previews. These invalid previews reverted to the target word once the reader's gaze crossed the invisible boundary. The results showed larger preview benefits (i.e. a decrease in fixation times) for target words following transposed-character than substituted-character previews, revealing a transposed-character effect similar to that in previous research. In addition, a word predictability effect (shorter fixation times for words with high than low predictability) was observed following both valid and transposed-character previews, but not substituted-character previews. The findings therefore reveal that context can influence an early stage of lexical processing in Chinese reading during which character order is processed flexibly.
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