TY - JOUR A1 - Sperlich, Anja A1 - Meixner, Johannes A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - Development of the perceptual span in reading BT - A longitudinal study JF - Journal of experimental child psychology N2 - The perceptual span is a standard measure of parafoveal processing, which is considered highly important for efficient reading. Is the perceptual span a stable indicator of reading performance? What drives its development? Do initially slower and faster readers converge or diverge over development? Here we present the first longitudinal data on the development of the perceptual span in elementary school children. Using the moving window technique, eye movements of 127 German children in three age groups (Grades 1, 2, and 3 in Year 1) were recorded at two time points (T1 and T2) 1 year apart. Introducing a new measure of the perceptual span, nonlinear mixed-effects modeling was used to separate window size effects from asymptotic reading performance. Cross-sectional differences were well replicated longitudinally. Asymptotic reading rate increased monotonously with grade, but in a decelerating fashion. A significant change in the perceptual span was observed only between Grades 2 and 3. Together with results from a cross-lagged panel model, this suggests that the perceptual span increases as a consequence of relatively well established word reading. Stabilities of observed and predicted reading rates were high after Grade 1, whereas the perceptual span was only moderately stable for all grades. Comparing faster and slower readers as assessed at T1, in general, a pattern of stable between-group differences emerged rather than a compensatory pattern; second and third graders even showed a Matthew effect in reading rate and the perceptual span, respectively. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Longitudinal study KW - Reading development KW - Eye movements KW - Perceptual span KW - Moving window KW - Nonlinear mixed-effects modeling Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2016.02.007 SN - 0022-0965 SN - 1096-0457 VL - 146 SP - 181 EP - 201 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sperlich, Anja A1 - Schad, Daniel A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - When preview information starts to matter BT - Development of the perceptual span in German beginning readers JF - Journal of cognitive psychology N2 - How is reading development reflected in eye-movement measures? How does the perceptual span change during the initial years of reading instruction? Does parafoveal processing require competence in basic word-decoding processes? We report data from the first cross-sectional measurement of the perceptual span of German beginning readers (n = 139), collected in the context of the large longitudinal PIER (Potsdamer Intrapersonale Entwicklungsrisiken/Potsdam study of intra-personal developmental risk factors) study of intrapersonal developmental risk factors. Using the moving-window paradigm, eye movements of three groups of students (Grades 1-3) were measured with gaze-contingent presentation of a variable amount of text around fixation. Reading rate increased from Grades 1-3, with smaller increases for higher grades. Perceptual-span results showed the expected main effects of grade and window size: fixation durations and refixation probability decreased with grade and window size, whereas reading rate and saccade length increased. Critically, for reading rate, first-fixation duration, saccade length and refixation probability, there were significant interactions of grade and window size that were mainly based on the contrast between Grades 3 and 2 rather than Grades 2 and 1. Taken together, development of the perceptual span only really takes off between Grades 2 and 3, suggesting that efficient parafoveal processing presupposes that basic processes of reading have been mastered. KW - Eye movements KW - German KW - Moving window KW - Perceptual span KW - Reading development Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2014.993990 SN - 2044-5911 SN - 2044-592X VL - 27 IS - 5 SP - 511 EP - 530 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Risse, Sarah A1 - Hohenstein, Sven A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - A theoretical analysis of the perceptual span based on SWIFT simulations of the n+2 boundary paradigm JF - Visual cognition N2 - Eye-movement experiments suggest that the perceptual span during reading is larger than the fixated word, asymmetric around the fixation position, and shrinks in size contingent on the foveal processing load. We used the SWIFT model of eye-movement control during reading to test these hypotheses and their implications under the assumption of graded parallel processing of all words inside the perceptual span. Specifically, we simulated reading in the boundary paradigm and analysed the effects of denying the model to have valid preview of a parafoveal word n + 2 two words to the right of fixation. Optimizing the model parameters for the valid preview condition only, we obtained span parameters with remarkably realistic estimates conforming to the empirical findings on the size of the perceptual span. More importantly, the SWIFT model generated parafoveal processing up to word n + 2 without fitting the model to such preview effects. Our results suggest that asymmetry and dynamic modulation are plausible properties of the perceptual span in a parallel word-processing model such as SWIFT. Moreover, they seem to guide the flexible distribution of processing resources during reading between foveal and parafoveal words. KW - Eye movements KW - Reading KW - Computational modelling KW - Perceptual span KW - Preview Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2014.881444 SN - 1350-6285 SN - 1464-0716 VL - 22 IS - 3-4 SP - 283 EP - 308 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schad, Daniel A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - The zoom lens of attention simulating shuffled versus normal text reading using the SWIFT model JF - Visual cognition N2 - Assumptions on the allocation of attention during reading are crucial for theoretical models of eye guidance. The zoom lens model of attention postulates that attentional deployment can vary from a sharp focus to a broad window. The model is closely related to the foveal load hypothesis, i.e., the assumption that the perceptual span is modulated by the difficulty of the fixated word. However, these important theoretical concepts for cognitive research have not been tested quantitatively in eye movement models. Here we show that the zoom lens model, implemented in the SWIFT model of saccade generation, captures many important patterns of eye movements. We compared the model's performance to experimental data from normal and shuffled text reading. Our results demonstrate that the zoom lens of attention might be an important concept for eye movement control in reading. KW - Computational modelling KW - Eye movements KW - Foveal load hypothesis KW - Perceptual span KW - Reading KW - Zoom lens model of attention Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2012.670143 SN - 1350-6285 SN - 1464-0716 VL - 20 IS - 4-5 SP - 391 EP - 421 PB - Wiley CY - Hove ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brzezicka, Aneta A1 - Krejtz, Izabela A1 - von Hecker, Ulrich A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - Eye movement evidence for defocused attention in dysphoria - A perceptual span analysis JF - International journal of psychophysiology N2 - The defocused attention hypothesis (von Hecker and Meiser, 2005) assumes that negative mood broadens attention, whereas the analytical rumination hypothesis (Andrews and Thompson, 2009) suggests a narrowing of the attentional focus with depression. We tested these conflicting hypotheses by directly measuring the perceptual span in groups of dysphoric and control subjects, using eye tracking. In the moving window paradigm, information outside of a variable-width gaze-contingent window was masked during reading of sentences. In measures of sentence reading time and mean fixation duration, dysphoric subjects were more pronouncedly affected than controls by a reduced window size. This difference supports the defocused attention hypothesis and seems hard to reconcile with a narrowing of attentional focus. KW - Dysphoria KW - Defocused attention KW - Eye tracking KW - Moving window paradigm KW - Perceptual span Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.09.022 SN - 0167-8760 VL - 85 IS - 1 SP - 129 EP - 133 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yan, Ming A1 - Pan, Jinger A1 - Laubrock, Jochen A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold A1 - Shu, Hua T1 - Parafoveal processing efficiency in rapid automatized naming a comparison between Chinese normal and dyslexic children JF - Journal of experimental child psychology N2 - 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. KW - Dyslexia KW - Eye movement KW - Perceptual span KW - Rapid automatized naming KW - Parafoveal processing KW - Linear mixed model Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.01.007 SN - 0022-0965 VL - 115 IS - 3 SP - 579 EP - 589 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER -