Perceptual inference corrects function word errors in reading: Errors that are not noticed do not disrupt eye...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Psycholinguistics
• Reading Science

Background:

• Readers frequently overlook errors like omitted or repeated function words.
• This challenges models assuming full lexical processing and integration of every word.
• A proposed explanation is post-perceptual inference, where errors are initially perceived but unconsciously corrected.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if undetected reading errors cause detectable disruption in eye movements.
• To differentiate between post-perceptual correction and direct perceptual influence.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale eyetracking experiment was conducted.
• Participants read naturalistic sentences containing omitted or repeated two-letter function words.
• Eye movement data was analyzed for disruption when errors were missed versus noticed.

Main Results:

• Readers failed to notice over 36% of omission and repetition errors.
• When all trials were analyzed, both error types caused significant eye movement disruption.
• However, in trials where errors went unnoticed, no eye movement disruption was detected; reading was even faster.

Conclusions:

• Unnoticed reading errors do not appear to be initially perceived and then corrected.
• Linguistic knowledge seems to influence what readers perceive, rather than correcting perceived errors.
• This challenges post-perceptual inference accounts of error detection in reading.