The Dynamics of Perception During Fixations in Reading (Eye Movements, Information-Processing, Word, Attention, Vision)
Blanchard, Harry E.
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69661
Description
Title
The Dynamics of Perception During Fixations in Reading (Eye Movements, Information-Processing, Word, Attention, Vision)
Author(s)
Blanchard, Harry E.
Issue Date
1985
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Experimental
Abstract
This series of experiments investigated the manner in which information is utilized during fixations in continuous reading. Utilization refers to visual information being used to further comprehension of the text being read, in contrast to registration, which refers to visual information simply becoming available to the brain. In an experiment by Blanchard, McConkie, Zola, and Wolverton (1984) subjects read short texts, and during selected fixations, the text was masked and reappeared with one word changed. Subjects sometimes reported the first presented word, sometimes the second word, and sometimes both. These results suggested the variable utilization time hypothesis, which proposes that visual information is utilized at a specific time during the fixation, and that the time varies depending on the needs of comprehension processes. Several competing explanations of the Blanchard et al. (1984) results were considered. Four experiments were conducted using the Blanchard et al. (1984) paradigm. Experiment 1 ruled out the possibility that visual information is utilized letter by letter in a left-to-right scan. Experiments 2 and 3 ruled out the possibility that the crucial findings from the Blanchard et al. (1984) paradigm are due to memory or other non-perceptual processes. The fourth experiment directly tested the variable utilization time hypothesis by manipulating characteristics of on-going language processing. Language processing was not successfully manipulated in the way intended, but unexpected results supported the variable utilization time hypothesis. Implications of this hypothesis are discussed, in terms of modifying theories to view the reading process as a comprehension-driven system instead of a fixation-driven system.
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