TY  - JOUR
A1  - Yan, Ming
A1  - Zhou, Wei
A1  - Shu, Hua
A1  - Kliegl, Reinhold
T1  - Perceptual span depends on font size during the reading of chinese sentences
JF  - Journal of experimental psychology : Learning, memory, and cognition
N2  - The present study explored the perceptual span (i.e., the physical extent of an area from which useful visual information is extracted during a single fixation) during the reading of Chinese sentences in 2 experiments. In Experiment 1, we tested whether the rightward span can go beyond 3 characters when visually similar masks were used. Results showed that Chinese readers needed at least 4 characters to the right of fixation to maintain a normal reading behavior when visually similar masks were used and when characters were displayed in small fonts, indicating that the span is dynamically influenced by masking materials. In Experiments 2 and 3, we asked whether the perceptual span varies as a function of font size in spaced (German) and unspaced (Chinese) scripts. Results clearly suggest perceptual span depends on font size in Chinese, but we failed to find such evidence for German. We propose that the perceptual span in Chinese is flexible; it is strongly constrained by its language-specific properties such as high information density and lack of word spacing. Implications for saccade-target selection during the reading of Chinese sentences are discussed.
KW  - eye movements
KW  - parafoveal processing
KW  - perceptual span
KW  - Chinese reading
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038097
SN  - 0278-7393
SN  - 1939-1285
VL  - 41
IS  - 1
SP  - 209
EP  - 219
PB  - American Psychological Association
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hohenstein, Sven
A1  - Kliegl, Reinhold
T1  - Semantic preview benefit during reading
JF  - Journal of experimental psychology : Learning, memory, and cognition
N2  - Word features in parafoveal vision influence eye movements during reading. The question of whether readers extract semantic information from parafoveal words was studied in 3 experiments by using a gaze-contingent display change technique. Subjects read German sentences containing 1 of several preview words that were replaced by a target word during the saccade to the preview (boundary paradigm). In the 1st experiment the preview word was semantically related or unrelated to the target. Fixation durations on the target were shorter for semantically related than unrelated previews, consistent with a semantic preview benefit. In the 2nd experiment, half the sentences were presented following the rules of German spelling (i.e., previews and targets were printed with an initial capital letter), and the other half were presented completely in lowercase. A semantic preview benefit was obtained under both conditions. In the 3rd experiment, we introduced 2 further preview conditions, an identical word and a pronounceable nonword, while also manipulating the text contrast. Whereas the contrast had negligible effects, fixation durations on the target were reliably different for all 4 types of preview. Semantic preview benefits were greater for pretarget fixations closer to the boundary (large preview space) and, although not as consistently, for long pretarget fixation durations (long preview time). The results constrain theoretical proposals about eye movement control in reading.
KW  - eye movements
KW  - reading
KW  - semantic preview benefit
KW  - parafoveal processing
KW  - display change awareness
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033670
SN  - 0278-7393
SN  - 1939-1285
VL  - 40
IS  - 1
SP  - 166
EP  - 190
PB  - American Psychological Association
CY  - Washington
ER  -