Work

Using E-Z Reader to examine word skipping during reading.

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: The question of why readers sometimes skip words has important theoretical implications for our understanding of perception, cognition, and oculomotor control during reading (Drieghe, Rayner, & Pollatsek, 2005). In this article, the E-Z Reader model of eye-movement control in reading (Reichle, 2011) was used to examine the behavioral consequences of word skipping on fixation durations. The simulations suggest that skipping "cost," or inflated fixation durations immediately prior to skips, is modulated by the lexical properties of the upcoming word (i.e., longer fixations before skipping infrequent and/or long words; Kliegl & Engbert, 2005) but that contrary to previous claims (e.g., Reichle & Laurent, 2006), "accidental" skips due to motor error also produce skipping cost. In contrast, the cost associated with having skipped a word was not modulated by that word's properties. These simulations suggest that skipping behavior is even more complicated than previously has been assumed and that further empirical research is needed to understand the causal link between skipping and its associated cost.

Source: Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition

DOI: 10.1037/a0030910

Authors: Erik D. Reichle, Denis Drieghe

Institutions: University of Pittsburgh, University of Southampton

Language: English

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: Eye Movement Control: Coordinating Perception, Cognition, and Action in Readin, G5615629319