FAB: A "Dummy's" program for self-paced forward and backward reading

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Science
• Computational Linguistics

Background:

• The self-paced reading (SPR) paradigm is a cornerstone in psycholinguistic research.
• Existing SPR tools often involve significant coding demands and operational costs.
• There is a need for accessible and efficient tools to facilitate SPR experiment design and analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce FAB (Forward and Backward reading), a novel, open-source tool designed to streamline the creation, implementation, and analysis of SPR tasks.
• To reduce the technical barriers and costs associated with conducting SPR experiments.
• To offer a unique forward-and-backward reading mode for capturing regressive behaviors.

Main Methods:

• FAB is developed using web technologies (HTML, JavaScript) for broad accessibility.
• The tool's functionality was validated through one laboratory and two online experiments.
• Demonstration of FAB's application in designing, coding, implementing, and analyzing SPR tasks.

Main Results:

• FAB successfully reduces coding demands and simplifies the operational aspects of SPR tasks.
• The forward-and-backward mode effectively tracks regressive behaviors, comparable to eye-tracking or mouse-tracking.
• Validation experiments confirmed the tool's usability and effectiveness in diverse research settings.

Conclusions:

• FAB provides a cost-effective and user-friendly solution for researchers conducting self-paced reading studies.
• Its open-source nature and web-based foundation promote data sharing and experimental reproducibility.
• FAB has the potential to broaden the application of SPR paradigms across various research domains.