Abstract
The place at which the eyes first fixate in a word during continuous reading, called thepreferred landing position(PLP), is usually located halfway between the beginning and the middle of the word. To propose a mechanism that might account for the off-center location of the PLP, six eye movement experiments were conducted using a lexical decision task (Experiment 1) and a stimulus bisection task (Experiments 2–6). The type of stimulus—linguistic (words and nonwords) versus nonlinguistic (strings of hashes, dotted lines, and solid lines)—and the stimulus presentation side (left vs. right) were manipulated. The results showed that (1) stimulus discreteness versus continuousness is an important factor in saccade computation and (2) PLP asymmetry can be explained in terms of attentional and/or oculomotor processes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Broerse, A. C., &Zwaan, E. J. (1966). The information value of initial letters in the identification of words.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,5, 441–446.
Brysbaert, M., &d’Ydewalle, G. (1988). Callosal transmission in reading. In G. Lüer, U. Lass, & J. Shallo-Hoffman (Eds.),Eye movement research: Physiological and psychological aspects (pp. 246–266). Göttingen, The Netherlands: Hogrefe.
Brysbaert, M., Vitu, F., &Schroyens, W. (1996). The right visual field advantage and the optimal viewing position: On the relation between foveal and parafoveal word recognition.Neuropsychology,18, 385–395.
Chokron, S., &de Agostini, M. (1995). Reading habits and line bisection: A developmental approach.Cognitive Brain Research,3, 51–58.
Chokron, S., &Imbert, M. (1993). Influence des habitudes de lecture sur la perception de l’espace [Influence of reading habits on space perception].Images et langages (Actes du Colloque CNRS, pp. 47–63). Paris: Comité National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Coëffé, C., &O’Regan, J. K. (1987). Reducing the influence of nontarget stimuli on saccade accuracy: Predictability and latency effects.Vision Research,27, 227–240.
Deutsch, A., &Rayner, K. (1999). Initial fixation location effects in reading Hebrew words.Language & Cognitive Processes,14, 393–421.
Farid, M., &Grainger, J. (1996). How initial fixation position influences visual word recognition: A comparison of French and Arabic.Brain & Language,53, 681–690.
Findlay, J. M. (1982). Global visual processing for saccadic eye movements.Vision Research,22, 1033–1045.
Fischer, M. H. (1996). Bisection performance indicates spatial word representation.Cognitive Brain Research,4, 163–170.
Fischer, M. H. (1999). An investigation of attention allocation during sequential eye movement tasks.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,52A, 649–677.
Fischer, M. H. (2000). Word center is misperceived.Perception,29, 337–354.
Henderson, J. M., &Ferreira, F. (1990). Effects of foveal processing difficulty on the perceptual span in reading: Implications for attention and eye movement control.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,16, 417–429.
Hyönä, J., &Pollatsek, A. (1998). Reading Finnish compound words: Eye fixations are affected by component morphemes.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,24, 1612–1627.
Hyönä, J., &Pollatsek, A. (2000). Processing of Finnish compound words in reading. In A. Kennedy, R. Radach, D. Heller, & J. Pynte (Eds.),Reading as a perceptual process (pp. 65–87). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Inhoff, A. W. (1989). Parafoveal processing of words and saccade computation during eye fixations in reading.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 544–555.
Inhoff, A. W., Pollatsek, A., Posner, M. I., &Rayner, K. (1989). Covert attention and eye movements during reading.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,41A, 63–89.
Jacobs, R. J. (1979). Visual resolution and contour interaction in the fovea and periphery.Vision Research,19, 1187–1196.
McConkie, G. W., Kerr, P. W., Reddix, M. D., &Zola, D. (1988). Eye movement control during reading: The location of initial eye fixations on words.Vision Research,27, 227–240.
McConkie, G. W., Kerr, P. W., Reddix, M. D., Zola, D., &Jacobs, A. M. (1989). Eye movement control during reading: II. Frequency of refixating a word.Perception & Psychophysics,46, 245–253.
Morris, R. K., Rayner, K., &Pollatsek, A. (1990). Eye movement guidance in reading: The role of parafoveal letter and space information.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 268–281.
Nazir, T. A., O’Regan, J. K., &Jacobs, A. M. (1991). On words and their letters.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,29, 171–174.
O’Regan, J. K. (1981). The “convenient viewing position” hypothesis. In D. F. Fisher, R. A. Monty, & J. W. Senders (Eds.),Eye movements: Cognition and visual perception (pp. 289–298). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
O’Regan, J. K., &Jacobs, A. M. (1992). Optimal viewing position effect in word recognition: A challenge to current theory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,18, 185–197.
O’Regan, J. K., &Levy-Schoen, A. (1987). Eye movement strategy and tactics in word recognition and reading. In M. Coltheart (Ed.),Attention and performance XII: The psychology of reading (pp. 263–284). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
O’Regan, J. K., Levy-Schoen, A., Pynte, J., &Brugaillère, B. (1984). Convenient fixation location within isolated words of different length and structure.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,10, 250–257.
Pollatsek, A., Bolozky, S., Well, A. D., &Rayner, K. (1981). Asymmetries in the perceptual span for Israeli readers.Brain & Language,14, 174–180.
Radach, R., &Kempe, V. (1993). An individual analysis of initial fixation positions in reading. In G. d’Ydewalle & J. Van Rensbergen (Eds.),Perception and cognition: Advances in eye movement research (pp. 213–225). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Radach, R., Krummenacher, J., Heller, D., &Hofmeister, J. (1995). Individual eye movement patterns in word recognition: Perceptual and linguistic factors. In J. M. Findlay, R. Walker, & R. W. Kentridge (Eds.),Eye movement research: Mechanisms, processes and applications (pp. 421–432). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Radach, R., &McConkie, G. W. (1998). Determinants of fixation positions in words during reading. In G. Underwood (Ed.),Eye guidance in reading and scene perception (pp. 77–100). New York: Elsevier.
Rayner, K. (1975). The perceptual span and peripheral cues in reading.Cognitive Psychology,7, 65–81.
Rayner, K. (1979). Eye guidance in reading: Fixation location within words.Perception,8, 21–30.
Rayner, K. (1986). Eye movements and the perceptual span in beginning and skilled readers.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,41, 211–236.
Rayner, K. (1998). Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research.Psychological Bulletin,124, 372–422.
Rayner, K., &Fischer, M. H. (1996). Mindless reading revisited: Eye movements during reading and scanning are different.Perception & Psychophysics,58, 734–747.
Rayner, K., Fischer, M. H., &Pollatsek, A. (1998). Unspaced text interferes with both word identification and eye movement control.Vision Research,38, 1129–1144.
Rayner, K., &Morris, R. K. (1992). Eye movement control in reading: Evidence against semantic preprocessing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,18, 163–172.
Rayner, K., Sereno, S. C., &Raney, G. E. (1996). Eye movement control in reading: A comparison of two types of models.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,22, 1188–1200.
Rayner, K., Well, A. D., Pollatsek, A., &Bertera, J. H. (1982). The availability of useful information to the right of fixation in reading.Perception & Psychophysics,31, 537–550.
Trésor de la langue française [French language frequency counts] (1971). Nancy, France: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Underwood, G., Clews, S., &Everatt, J. (1990). How do readers know where to look next?Local information distributions influence eye fixations. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,42A, 39–65.
Vitu, F., O’Regan, J. K., Inhoff, A. W., &Topolski, R. (1995). Mindless reading: Eye-movement characteristics are similar in scanning letter strings and reading texts.Perception & Psychophysics,57, 352–364.
Vitu, F., O’Regan, J. K., &Mittau, M. (1990). Optimal landing position in reading isolated words and continuous text.Perception & Psychophysics,47, 583–600.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This paper was prepared while the first author was supported by a research fellowship from the Conseil Régional PACA.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ducrot, S., Pynte, J. What determines the eyes’ landing position in words?. Perception & Psychophysics 64, 1130–1144 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194762
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194762