Reading is disrupted by intelligible background speech: Evidence from eye-tracking

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Reading Comprehension
• Auditory Distraction

Background:

• Unclear if background speech impacts early word processing or later sentence integration.
• Limited understanding of how eye movements aid reading comprehension amidst auditory distractions.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the impact of background speech on reading processes.
• Determine if distraction affects lexical access, fixation patterns, or comprehension.
• Differentiate between semantic and phonological contributions to reading disruption.

Main Methods:

• Participants read sentences and paragraphs under four auditory conditions: silence, noise, intelligible English speech, and unintelligible Mandarin speech.
• Eye movements were monitored to analyze fixation durations, regressions, and rereading patterns.
• Comprehension was assessed, with some conditions restricting rereading.

Main Results:

• Intelligible speech minimally affected lexical access and first-pass word fixations.
• Intelligible speech significantly increased regressions and rereading compared to silence and unintelligible speech.
• Distraction was primarily semantic, with limited phonological influence.
• Comprehension was disrupted by intelligible speech only when rereading was prevented.

Conclusions:

• Irrelevant speech primarily disrupts postlexical stages of reading, specifically semantic integration.
• The semantic content of background speech poses a significant distraction to reading comprehension.
• Rereading allows readers to overcome semantic distractions, maintaining discourse coherence.