Predictability effects during reading in the absence of parafoveal preview.

Abstract

The predictability of upcoming words facilitates spoken and written language comprehension (see Kuperberg & Jaeger, 2016 for a review). One difference between these language modalities is that readers’ routinely have access to upcoming words in parafoveal vision while listeners must wait for each word from a speaker. Despite readers’ potential glimpse into the future, it is not clear if and how this information aids prediction. The current study manipulated the predictability of target words and their location on a line of text. Targets were located in the middle of the line (preview available) or as the first word on a new line (preview unavailable). This represents an innovative method for manipulating parafoveal preview which utilizes return sweeps to deny access to parafoveal preview of target words without the use of invalid previews. The study is the first to demonstrate gaze duration word predictability effects in the absence of parafoveal preview.