Eye movement measures to study global text processing

: Hyona J, Lorch RF, Rinck M

: 2003

: MIND'S EYE: COGNITIVE AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF EYE MOVEMENT RESEARCH

: 313

: 334

: 22

: 0-444-51020-6

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-044451020-4/50018-9

In this chapter, we demonstrate the usefulness of the eye tracking method in studying global text processing. By "global text processing," we refer to processes responsible for the integration of information from sentences that are not adjacent in the text. Potential eye movement measures indexing global text processing are discussed using as examples the processing of topic-introducing sentences and the processing of inconsistencies. In addition to the existing measures of regional gaze duration and lookback fixation time, we advocate new measures that may be applied to the study of global text processing. These include a new extended first-pass fixation time measure that allows lookbacks to previous text regions without necessarily terminating the first-pass reading, and first-pass rereading time that sums up all the reinspective fixations made during first-pass reading. We also demonstrate the potential usefulness of analyzing the origin and destination of eye movement sequences, such as lookback sequences.