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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 16, 2026

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading

Published on: October 18, 2018

How fast can predictability influence word skipping during reading?

Gemma Fitzsimmons¹, Denis Drieghe

¹School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, England. G.Fitzsimmons@soton.ac.uk

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition

|December 19, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers studied how word predictability affects reading by tracking eye movements. Findings show predictability influences word skipping, regardless of whether it comes from a single word or broader sentence context.

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Last Updated: May 16, 2026

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Published on: October 18, 2018

Comparing the Frequency Effect Between the Lexical Decision and Naming Tasks in Chinese

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Published on: April 1, 2016

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Decomposing the Variance in Reading Comprehension to Reveal the Unique and Common Effects of Language and Decoding

Published on: October 11, 2018

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Psycholinguistics
Computational Linguistics

Background:

Understanding the cognitive processes underlying reading is crucial for developing effective literacy interventions.
Eye-movement tracking provides valuable insights into the real-time mechanisms of reading comprehension and word processing.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how varying levels of target word predictability influence eye movements during reading.
To determine if the source of predictability (local vs. global context) differentially affects word skipping behavior.

Main Methods:

Participants' eye movements were monitored while they read sentences with manipulated target word predictability.
Predictability was varied across three conditions: unpredictable, predictable from prior sentence context, and predictable from an immediately preceding adjective.

Main Results:

Word skipping rates were significantly higher in both predictability conditions compared to the neutral condition.
No significant difference in skipping rates was observed between the two predictability conditions, suggesting a similar impact of local and global predictability.

Conclusions:

Predictability plays a significant role in the decision to skip words during reading, irrespective of its origin.
These findings support models of reading that posit substantial processing of the current word before the decision to skip the next word is made.