Processing of Irony in Text: A Systematic Review of Eye-Tracking Studies

: Olkoniemi Henri, Kaakinen Johanna K.

Publisher: CANADIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC

: 2021

: Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology

: CAN J EXP PSYCHOL

: 75

: 2

: 99

: 106

: 8

: 1196-1961

: 1878-7290

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/cep0000216

Theoretical models of irony comprehension pose different hypotheses about the time course of resolving ironic interpretation of an utterance, and they propose several context-, phrase-, and reader-related factors that influence the ease or difficulty of processing irony. In recent years, these factors have been examined using eye tracking, which allows a detailed analysis of time course of reading processes. In this article, we present a meta-analysis of the eye-tracking studies on irony and then present a systematic review of the factors that have been shown to influence the time course of irony processing. The review will point to future directions in how eye tracking could best be applied to further develop the current theoretical views.