Skipping syntactically illegal “the”-previews:
The role of predictability
1
2
1
Matthew Abbott , Bernhard Angele , Y. Danbi Ahn , & Keith Rayner
1
University of California San Diego
2
Bournemouth University
Word Skipping During Reading
Results
3
or
Pre−Target Single Fixation Duation
predictable
2. Readers also skip parafoveal previews of high-frequency words
more often than low-frequency 3-letter words even when they are
4,5
syntactically infelicitous
(b)
(c)
Target Skipped
Target
The
230
There was a massive ant infestation in..
There was a massive the infestation in..
There was a massive all infestation in..
0.6
0.5
210
200
0.4
High
skipped words, but this cost is even greater after skipping an
incorrect preview
4. If the target word is highly predictable, will parafoveal information
of a different word block skipping decisions?
Low
High
Low
Constraint
High
Target Word Gaze Duration
Gaze Duration (ms)
275
250
240
230
225
220
200
High
Low
Constraint
High
Regressions Into Target Word
Target Fixated
1.00
Regressions In (proportion of trials)
Cloze Sentence ( | indicates boundary)
High Jane used the scissors to carefully| cut scraps..
Preview
Target
The
Target
The
•
•
•
References
O’Regan, J. K. (1979). Eye guidance in reading: Evidence for the linguistic control hypothesis. Perception & Psychophysics, 25, 501-509.
Drieghe, D., Pollatsek, A., Staub, A., & Rayner, K. (2008). The word grouping hypothesis and eye movements during reading. JEP: LMC, 34, 1552-1560.
Balota, D. A., Pollatsek, A., & Rayner, K. (1985). The interaction of contextual constraints and parafoveal visual information in reading. Cog Psych., 17,
364-390.
4. Angele, B., Laishley, A., Rayner, K., & Liversedge, S. P. (2014). The effect of high- and low-frequency previews on and sentential fit on word skipping during
reading. JEP: LMC, in press.
5. Angele, B., & Rayner, K. (2013). Processing the in the parafovea: Are articles skipped automatically? JEP: LMC, 39, 649-662.
6. Rayner, K. (1975). The perceptual span and peripheral cues in reading. Cog Psych., 7, 65-81.
1.
2.
3.
2014 Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting :: Long Beach, CA
Constraint
Low
Go−Past Time (ms)
Target Skipped
400
300
0.25
Low Jane used the machine to carefully| the scraps..
High
Target Fixated
Preview
0.50
Low Jane used the machine to carefully| cut scraps..
Low
Post−Target Word Go−Past Time
Target Skipped
0.75
High Jane used the scissors to carefully| the scraps..
•
Target
The
260
37 UCSD undergraduates read 40 sentences
2 constraint (high vs. low Cloze target word) x 2 parafoveal
preview (correct vs. the preview) design
Target word cloze probabilities: 0.77 for high constraint targets,
0.05 for low constraint targets
Position of target in sentence did not differ between conditions
6
Parafoveal preview controlled using the boundary paradigm : on
all trials the target word (cut) replaced the preview (e.g., cut or
the) after readers’ eyes crossed the boundary
Display changes completed in 4ms on average (range 0-7ms)
10.53% of the data was removed due to improper display
changes
Target Skipped
Preview
Target
The
300
Present Study
•
Constraint
Target Fixated
Preview
270
Low
Post−Target Word Gaze Duation
250
•
Target
The
0.7
220
3. There is a cost to skipping, with longer fixations following
•
Preview
Preview
Single Fixation Duation (ms)
(a)
Target Fixated
Target Word Skipping Rate
Skipping Rate
1,2
Gaze Duation (ms)
1. Readers frequently skip words that are short and frequent
1
0.00
High
Low
High
Constraint
Low
200
High
Low
High
Constraint
Low
Discussion
•
•
•
•
•
Readers skip the word the more often than other 3-letter words
Skipping of the often proceeds even when the context indicates
that another word should occur in that position with high
probability
Constraint may boost the baseline rate of skipping short words the was skipped more often in high than in low constraint
sentences
Information from the sentence context and the parafovea both
appear to influence skipping, but integration lags behind
While readers are likely to regress to any skipped word, processing
difficulty is most apparent after skipping an infelicitous word
M A B B O T T@U C S D.E D U