The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The word frequency effect during sentence reading: A linear or nonlinear effect of log frequency?

The word frequency effect during sentence reading: A linear or nonlinear effect of log frequency?
The word frequency effect during sentence reading: A linear or nonlinear effect of log frequency?
The effect of word frequency on eye movement behaviour during reading has been reported in many experimental studies. However, the vast majority of these studies compared only two levels of word frequency (high and low). Here we assess whether the effect of log word frequency on eye movement measures is linear, in an experiment in which a critical target word in each sentence was at one of three approximately equally- spaced log frequency levels. Separate analyses treated log frequency as a categorical or a continuous predictor. Both analyses showed only a linear effect of log frequency on the likelihood of skipping a word, and on first fixation duration. Ex-Gaussian analyses of first fixation duration showed similar effects on distributional parameters in comparing high and medium frequency words, and medium and low frequency words. Analyses of gaze duration and the probability of a refixation suggested a nonlinear pattern, with a larger effect at the lower end of the log frequency scale. However, the nonlinear effects were small, and Bayes Factor analyses favoured the simpler linear models for all measures. The possible roles of lexical and post-lexical factors in producing nonlinear effects of log word frequency during sentence reading are discussed.
1747-0218
46-55
White, Sarah J.
6691e495-5b54-40f7-b75b-012f77e5a493
Drieghe, Denis
dfe41922-1cea-47f4-904b-26d5c9fe85ce
Liversedge, Simon
3ebda3f3-d930-4f89-85d5-5654d8fe7dee
Staub, Adrian
db5cb0a9-0599-4682-8e5a-17a5c630f373
White, Sarah J.
6691e495-5b54-40f7-b75b-012f77e5a493
Drieghe, Denis
dfe41922-1cea-47f4-904b-26d5c9fe85ce
Liversedge, Simon
3ebda3f3-d930-4f89-85d5-5654d8fe7dee
Staub, Adrian
db5cb0a9-0599-4682-8e5a-17a5c630f373

White, Sarah J., Drieghe, Denis, Liversedge, Simon and Staub, Adrian (2018) The word frequency effect during sentence reading: A linear or nonlinear effect of log frequency? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71 (1), 46-55. (doi:10.1080/17470218.2016.1240813).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The effect of word frequency on eye movement behaviour during reading has been reported in many experimental studies. However, the vast majority of these studies compared only two levels of word frequency (high and low). Here we assess whether the effect of log word frequency on eye movement measures is linear, in an experiment in which a critical target word in each sentence was at one of three approximately equally- spaced log frequency levels. Separate analyses treated log frequency as a categorical or a continuous predictor. Both analyses showed only a linear effect of log frequency on the likelihood of skipping a word, and on first fixation duration. Ex-Gaussian analyses of first fixation duration showed similar effects on distributional parameters in comparing high and medium frequency words, and medium and low frequency words. Analyses of gaze duration and the probability of a refixation suggested a nonlinear pattern, with a larger effect at the lower end of the log frequency scale. However, the nonlinear effects were small, and Bayes Factor analyses favoured the simpler linear models for all measures. The possible roles of lexical and post-lexical factors in producing nonlinear effects of log word frequency during sentence reading are discussed.

Text
White, Drieghe, Liversedge, & Staub (in press).pdf - Accepted Manuscript
Download (2MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 19 September 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 October 2016
Published date: January 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 402099
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/402099
ISSN: 1747-0218
PURE UUID: cd961b00-3a4d-48e4-acc6-2f909ddbbaaa
ORCID for Denis Drieghe: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9630-8410

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 02 Nov 2016 11:21
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:01

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Sarah J. White
Author: Denis Drieghe ORCID iD
Author: Simon Liversedge
Author: Adrian Staub

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×