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Eye movement behavior during reading of Japanese sentences: effects of word length and visual complexity

Eye movement behavior during reading of Japanese sentences: effects of word length and visual complexity
Eye movement behavior during reading of Japanese sentences: effects of word length and visual complexity
Two experiments are presented that examine how the visual characteristics of Japanese words influence eye movement behaviour during reading. In Experiment 1, reading behaviour was compared for words comprising either one or two kanji characters. The one-character words were significantly less likely to be fixated on first-pass, and had significantly longer overall reading times, than the two-character words. In Experiment 2, reading behaviour was compared for two-kanji character words, for which the first character was either visually simple or visually complex (determined by the number of strokes). Visual complexity significantly influenced total word reading times and the probability of the individual visually simple/complex characters being fixated on first pass. Additional analyses showed no preferred viewing position for two-kanji character words. Overall, the study provides experimental evidence of an influence of specific visual characteristics of Japanese words on eye movement behaviour during reading, as shown by both fixation probabilities and reading times. The findings must be explained by processing at (or beyond) a visual level impacting on eye movement behavior during reading of Japanese text.
reading, eye movements, japanese, word length, visual complexity
0922-4777
981-1006
White, Sarah J.
6691e495-5b54-40f7-b75b-012f77e5a493
Hirotiani, Masako
ed4c0250-f39c-4d6c-a1e0-4ce6172a7851
Liversedge, Simon P.
3ebda3f3-d930-4f89-85d5-5654d8fe7dee
White, Sarah J.
6691e495-5b54-40f7-b75b-012f77e5a493
Hirotiani, Masako
ed4c0250-f39c-4d6c-a1e0-4ce6172a7851
Liversedge, Simon P.
3ebda3f3-d930-4f89-85d5-5654d8fe7dee

White, Sarah J., Hirotiani, Masako and Liversedge, Simon P. (2012) Eye movement behavior during reading of Japanese sentences: effects of word length and visual complexity. Reading and Writing, 2012 (5), 981-1006. (doi:10.1007/s11145-010-9289-0).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Two experiments are presented that examine how the visual characteristics of Japanese words influence eye movement behaviour during reading. In Experiment 1, reading behaviour was compared for words comprising either one or two kanji characters. The one-character words were significantly less likely to be fixated on first-pass, and had significantly longer overall reading times, than the two-character words. In Experiment 2, reading behaviour was compared for two-kanji character words, for which the first character was either visually simple or visually complex (determined by the number of strokes). Visual complexity significantly influenced total word reading times and the probability of the individual visually simple/complex characters being fixated on first pass. Additional analyses showed no preferred viewing position for two-kanji character words. Overall, the study provides experimental evidence of an influence of specific visual characteristics of Japanese words on eye movement behaviour during reading, as shown by both fixation probabilities and reading times. The findings must be explained by processing at (or beyond) a visual level impacting on eye movement behavior during reading of Japanese text.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 9 January 2011
Published date: May 2012
Keywords: reading, eye movements, japanese, word length, visual complexity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 145759
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/145759
ISSN: 0922-4777
PURE UUID: f7b2b57b-3dfd-4c79-9b44-1d64676a716f

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Date deposited: 16 Feb 2011 11:40
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 00:52

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Contributors

Author: Sarah J. White
Author: Masako Hirotiani
Author: Simon P. Liversedge

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