Work

Age effects on the extraction and integration of parafoveal information in reading.

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Evidence of age-related declines in parafoveal processing from studies using the boundary paradigm has been interpreted as evidence that older adults extract less information from upcoming text. This study examined whether older adults' parafoveal processing deficits are specific to the extraction of information from upcoming text, or whether they instead reflect reduced efficiency in trans-saccadic integration of parafoveal and foveal information. Eye movements were recorded from younger adults (mean age = 19.7 years) and older adults (mean age = 71.5 years) as they read sentences containing an unpredictable target word. The boundary paradigm was used to manipulate parafoveal previews, which were either contextually plausible or implausible and either preserved or masked target orthographic information. Older and younger readers showed comparable effects of preview plausibility on skipping and early fixation measures, indicating preserved extraction of semantic parafoveal information in older age. However, age-related reduction in both preview benefits and costs was observed for orthographic-based preview effects. The findings suggest that older adults show a specific deficit in trans-saccadic integration of parafoveal and foveal information during reading.

Source: Psychology and Aging

DOI: 10.1037/pag0000992

Authors: Aaron Veldre, Roslyn Wong, Lili Yu, Erik D. Reichle

Institutions: University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University

Language: English

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Australian Research Council

Award: G7329916502