Power-law fluctuations in eye movements predict text comprehension during connected text reading

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Authors

The present study investigates the relation between the reading process and text comprehension during naturalistic text reading. To that end, participants read easy and difficult texts while their eye movements were recorded. After each reading, participants filled-in comprehension questionnaires. We investigated classical measures of the reading process related to comprehension (fixation duration, regressive eye movements), as well as power-law scaling in eye movements that are indicative of degree of cognitive coordination during reading. The results show that text difficulty led to longer fixation durations and stronger power-law scaling in eye movements. Moreover, the degree of power-law scaling in eye movements was predictive of text comprehension. In line with previous research on natural text reading that utilized the self-paced reading method, power-law scaling turned out to be a superior predictor of reading comprehension compared to standard measures, suggesting that it is an effective measure of cognitive performance in complex reading tasks.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015
EditorsDavid C. Noelle, Rick Dale, Anne Warlaumont, Jeff Yoshimi, Teenie Matlock, Carolyn D. Jennings, Paul P. Maglio
Number of pages6
Place of PublicationAustin, Texas
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Publication date2015
Pages2583-2588
ISBN (electronic)9780991196722
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
EventConference - 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2015: Mind, Technology, and Society - Pasadena, United States
Duration: 23.07.201525.07.2015
Conference number: 37
https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cogsci15_proceedings.pdf

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015.All rights reserved.

    Research areas

  • comprehension, connected text reading, eye movements, naturalistic text reading, power-law scaling
  • Psychology