@phdthesis{Rolfs2007,
  author    = {Rolfs, Martin},
  title     = {In-between fixation and movement : on the generation of microsaccades and what they convey about saccade generation},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-14581},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2007},
  abstract  = {Microsaccades are an important component of the small eye movements that constitute fixation, the basis of visual perception. The specific function of microsaccades has been a long-standing research problem. Only recently, conclusive evidence emerged, showing that microsaccades aid both visual perception and oculomotor control. The main goal of this thesis was to improve our understanding of the implementation of microsaccade generation within the circuitry of saccade control, an unsolved issue in oculomotor research. We make a case for a model according to which microsaccades and saccades result from mutually dependent motor plans, competing for expression. The model consists of an activation field, coding for fixation at its center and for saccades at peripheral locations; saccade amplitude increases with eccentricity. Activity during fixation spreads to slightly peripheral locations in the field and, thus, may result in the generation of microsaccades. Inhibition of remote and excitation of neighbouring locations govern the dynamics of the field, resulting in a strong competition between fixation and saccade generation. We propose that this common-field model of microsaccade and saccade generation finds a neurophysiological counterpart in the motor map of the superior colliculus (SC), a key brainstem structure involved in the generation of saccades. In a series of five behavioral experiments, we tested implications of the model. Predictions were derived concerning (1) the behavior of microsaccades in a given task (microsaccade rate, amplitude, and direction), (2) the interactions of microsaccades and subsequent saccades, and (3) the relationship between microsaccadic behavior and neurophysiological processes at the level of the SC. The results yielded strong support for the model at all three levels of analysis, suggesting that microsaccade statistics are indicative of the state of the fixation-related part of the SC motor map.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ShuZhouYanetal.2011,
  author    = {Shu, Hua and Zhou, Wei and Yan, Ming and Kliegl, Reinhold},
  title     = {Font size modulates saccade-target selection in Chinese reading},
  series = {Attention, perception, \& psychophysics : AP\&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.},
  volume    = {73},
  journal   = {Attention, perception, \& psychophysics : AP\&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {1943-3921},
  doi       = {10.3758/s13414-010-0029-y},
  pages     = {482 -- 490},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {In alphabetic writing systems, saccade amplitude (a close correlate of reading speed) is independent of font size, presumably because an increase in the angular size of letters is compensated for by a decrease of visual acuity with eccentricity. We propose that this invariance may (also) be due to the presence of spaces between words, guiding the eyes across a large range of font sizes. Here, we test whether saccade amplitude is also invariant against manipulations of font size during reading Chinese, a character-based writing system without spaces as explicit word boundaries for saccade-target selection. In contrast to word-spaced alphabetic writing systems, saccade amplitude decreased significantly with increased font size, leading to an increase in the number of fixations at the beginning of words and in the number of refixations. These results are consistent with a model which assumes that word beginning (rather than word center) is the default saccade target if the length of the parafoveal word is not available.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{YanRisseZhouetal.2012,
  author    = {Yan, Ming and Risse, Sarah and Zhou, Xiaolin and Kliegl, Reinhold},
  title     = {Preview fixation duration modulates identical and semantic preview benefit in Chinese reading},
  series = {Reading and writing : an interdisciplinary journal},
  volume    = {25},
  journal   = {Reading and writing : an interdisciplinary journal},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Dordrecht},
  issn      = {0922-4777},
  doi       = {10.1007/s11145-010-9274-7},
  pages     = {1093 -- 1111},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Semantic preview benefit from parafoveal words is critical for proposals of distributed lexical processing during reading. Semantic preview benefit has been demonstrated for Chinese reading with the boundary paradigm in which unrelated or semantically related previews of a target word N + 1 are replaced by the target word once the eyes cross an invisible boundary located after word N (Yan et al., 2009); for the target word in position N + 2, only identical compared to unrelated-word preview led to shorter fixation times on the target word (Yan et al., in press). A reanalysis of these data reveals that identical and semantic preview benefits depend on preview duration (i.e., the fixation duration on the preboundary word). Identical preview benefit from word N + 1 increased with preview duration. The identical preview benefit was also significant for N + 2, but did not significantly interact with preview duration. The previously reported semantic preview benefit from word N + 1 was mainly due to single- or first-fixation durations following short previews. We discuss implications for notions of serial attention shifts and parallel distributed processing of words during reading.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{YanPanLaubrocketal.2013,
  author    = {Yan, Ming and Pan, Jinger and Laubrock, Jochen and Kliegl, Reinhold and Shu, Hua},
  title     = {Parafoveal processing efficiency in rapid automatized naming a comparison between Chinese normal and dyslexic children},
  series = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
  volume    = {115},
  journal   = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {San Diego},
  issn      = {0022-0965},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jecp.2013.01.007},
  pages     = {579 -- 589},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Dyslexic children are known to be slower than normal readers in rapid automatized naming (RAN). This suggests that dyslexics encounter local processing difficulties, which presumably induce a narrower perceptual span. Consequently, dyslexics should suffer less than normal readers from removing parafoveal preview. Here we used a gaze-contingent moving window paradigm in a RAN task to experimentally test this prediction. Results indicate that dyslexics extract less parafoveal information than control children. We propose that more attentional resources are recruited to the foveal processing because of dyslexics' less automatized translation of visual symbols into phonological output, thereby causing a reduction of the perceptual span. This in turn leads to less efficient preactivation of parafoveal information and, hence, more difficulty in processing the next foveal item.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{YanPanChangetal.2019,
  author    = {Yan, Ming and Pan, Jinger and Chang, Wenshuo and Kliegl, Reinhold},
  title     = {Read sideways or not: vertical saccade advantage in sentence reading},
  series = {Reading and writing : an interdisciplinary journal},
  volume    = {32},
  journal   = {Reading and writing : an interdisciplinary journal},
  number    = {8},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Dordrecht},
  issn      = {0922-4777},
  doi       = {10.1007/s11145-018-9930-x},
  pages     = {1911 -- 1926},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {During the reading of alphabetic scripts and scene perception, eye movements are programmed more efficiently in horizontal direction than in vertical direction. We propose that such a directional advantage may be due the overwhelming reading experience in the horizontal direction. Writing orientation is highly flexible for Traditional Chinese sentences. We compare horizontal and vertical eye movements during reading of such sentences and provide first evidence of a text-orientation effect on eye-movement control during reading. In addition to equivalent reading speed in both directions, more fine-grained analyses demonstrate a tradeoff between longer fixation durations and better fixation locations in vertical than in horizontal reading. Our results suggest that with extensive reading experience, Traditional Chinese readers can generate saccades more efficiently in vertical than in horizontal direction.},
  language  = {en}
}