Abstract
Readers can acquire useful information from only a narrow region of text around each fixation (the perceptual span), which extends asymmetrically in the direction of reading. Studies with bilingual readers have additionally shown that this asymmetry reverses with changes in horizontal reading direction. However, little is known about the perceptual span’s flexibility following orthogonal (vertical vs. horizontal) changes in reading direction, because of the scarcity of vertical writing systems and because changes in reading direction often are confounded with text orientation. Accordingly, we assessed effects in a language (Mongolian) that avoids this confound, in which text is conventionally read vertically but can also be read horizontally. Sentences were presented normally or in a gaze-contingent paradigm in which a restricted region of text was displayed normally around each fixation and other text was degraded. The perceptual span effects on reading rates were similar in both reading directions. These findings therefore provide a unique (nonconfounded) demonstration of perceptual span flexibility.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1566–1572 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics |
| Volume | 82 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 2 Jan 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2020 |
Funding
The research was supported by a grant from the Inner Mongolia Department of Education (NJSY16138) to J.S., a scholarship from the Chinese Scholarship Council (201708120083) to J.S. to make a research visit to the University of Leicester, a scholarship from the British Council/Newton Fund to K.L.W. to make a research visit to Tianjin Normal University, a \u201CFuture Research Leaders\u201D postdoctoral fellowship from the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant ES/L010836/1) to V.A.M., and a 1000 Talents Visiting Professorship from Tianjin Normal University to K.B.P. All authors contributed to the study design. The stimuli were created by J.S., and stimulus presentation was prepared by J.S., S.K., and V.A.M. The data were collected by J.S. and analyzed by J.S., K.L.W., and V.A.M. under the supervision of K.B.P. K.B.P. drafted the manuscript, and S.P.L. provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission. The authors have no competing interests. The research was supported by a grant from the Inner Mongolia Department of Education (NJSY16138) to J.S., a scholarship from the Chinese Scholarship Council (201708120083) to J.S. to make a research visit to the University of Leicester, a scholarship from the British Council/Newton Fund to K.L.W. to make a research visit to Tianjin Normal University, a ?Future Research Leaders? postdoctoral fellowship from the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant ES/L010836/1) to V.A.M., and a 1000 Talents Visiting Professorship from Tianjin Normal University to K.B.P. All authors contributed to the study design. The stimuli were created by J.S., and stimulus presentation was prepared by J.S., S.K., and V.A.M. The data were collected by J.S. and analyzed by J.S., K.L.W., and V.A.M. under the supervision of K.B.P. K.B.P. drafted the manuscript, and S.P.L. provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission. The authors have no competing interests. The experiment reported here was not preregistered. The data and R analysis script are available at https://figshare.com/s/acf241e3024ffd5f799a
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| University of Leicester | |
| Chinese Scholarship Council | |
| Newton Fund | |
| Tianjin Normal University | |
| Economic and Social Research Council | ES/L010836/1 |
| China Scholarship Council | 201708120083 |
| Inner Mongolia Department of Education | NJSY16138 |
Keywords
- Eye movements during reading
- Mongolian
- Perceptual span
- Vertical reading
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Sensory Systems
- Linguistics and Language