Eye-Movement Control During the Reading of Chinese: An Analysis Using the Landolt-C Paradigm

TL;DR

This study investigates eye-movement patterns during Chinese reading using a Landolt-C paradigm, revealing that eye movements are influenced by ongoing processing rather than specific saccade targets.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how visual and cognitive factors influence eye-movement control in Chinese reading, challenging the idea of targeted saccades.

Findings

Distribution of first fixations suggests saccade targeting.

Fixation durations are affected by word properties.

Forward saccade length is influenced by ongoing processing.

Abstract

Participants in an eye-movement experiment performed a modified version of the Landolt-C paradigm (Williams & Pollatsek, 2007) in which they searched for target squares embedded in linear arrays of spatially contiguous "words" (i.e., short sequences of squares having missing segments of variable size and orientation). Although the distributions of single- and first-of-multiple fixation locations replicated previous patterns suggesting saccade targeting (e.g., Yan, Kliegl, Richter, Nuthmann, & Shu, 2010), the distribution of all forward fixation locations was uniform, suggesting the absence of specific saccade targets. Furthermore, properties of the "words" (e.g., gap size) also influenced fixation durations and forward saccade length, suggesting that on-going processing affects decisions about when and where (i.e., how far) to move the eyes. The theoretical implications of these results for existing and future accounts of eye-movement control are discussed.