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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading
Published on: October 18, 2018
Mislocated fixations can account for parafoveal-on-foveal effects in eye movements during reading
Denis Drieghe1, Keith Rayner, Alexander Pollatsek
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. denis.drieghe@UGent.be
Abstract:
Contrasting predictions of serial and parallel views on the processing of foveal and parafoveal information during reading were tested. A high-frequency adjective (young) was followed by either a high-frequency word(n) (child) or a low-frequency word(n) (tenor), which in turn was followed by either a correct (performing) or an orthographic illegal word(n+1) (pxvforming) as a parafoveal preview. A limited parafoveal-on-foveal effect was observed: There were inflated fixation times on word(n) when the preview of word(n+1) was orthographically illegal. However, this parafoveal-on-foveal effect was (a) independent of the frequency of word(n), (b) restricted to those instances when the eyes were very close to word(n+1), and (c) associated with relatively long prior saccades. These observations are all compatible with a mislocated fixation account in which parafoveal-on-foveal effects result from saccadic undershoots of word(n+1) and with a serial model of eye movement control during reading.
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