Effect of pattern complexity on the visual span for Chinese and alphabet characters

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Visual perception
• Reading science

Background:

• The visual span, the number of letters recognized in a single fixation, is a key factor limiting reading speed.
• Previous studies on visual span have primarily used alphabet letters, leaving its application to other scripts unexplored.
• The complexity of characters in different writing systems may influence visual span size.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extend the concept of visual span to Chinese characters.
• To investigate the impact of character complexity on visual span size.
• To identify factors limiting visual span in Chinese character recognition.

Main Methods:

• Measured visual spans for alphabet letters and Chinese characters in bilingual participants.
• Quantified character pattern complexity using perimetric complexity.
• Administered visual span tests using stimuli of varying complexity.

Main Results:

• Visual span size decreased with increasing character complexity.
• Visual spans ranged from 10.5 characters for alphabet letters to 4.5 for the most complex Chinese characters.
• Crowding was identified as the primary factor limiting visual span, increasing with complexity.

Conclusions:

• Pattern complexity significantly affects visual span size, largely mediated by crowding.
• Understanding visual span for Chinese characters is crucial for reading performance research.
• Crowding and spatial mislocations are key constraints on visual span.