Referential processing during reading: concurrent recordings of eye movements and head motion

The present study utilized a new experimental set-up synchronizing eye movements and head motion for investigating referential change occurring in a reading task. We examined the effects of a change in narrative perspective during reading on eye movements and head motion. Forty-four participants read texts on a digital tablet, and both participants' eye movements and head movements were recorded using eye tracker and motion capture. The results showed longer eye fixation duration, longer reading time and decreasing head motions when perspective changed. Recent studies have supported the dynamic engagement hypothesis suggesting that there is a fluctuation in cognitive engagement reflected by postural movements. Our findings on head movements seem to validate this hypothesis of a bodily engagement in reading. The results provided by our study showed that the novel methodology of eye and head movement recordings we used was proven to be informative in studying the reader's embodiment during reading.