Unspaced text interferes with both word identification and eye movement control

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Experimental psychology
• Human-computer interaction

Background:

• Reading is a complex cognitive process involving word recognition and eye movement control.
• The role of visual cues, such as spaces, in facilitating fluent reading is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of absent inter-word spacing on reading rate and accuracy.
• To examine how the lack of spaces affects word identification processes and eye movement control.
• To explore the relationship between reading difficulties and word frequency effects.

Main Methods:

• Three text conditions were used: normal text, text with removed spaces, and text with spaces flanked by 'x'.
• Reading rate was measured by tracking the time subjects took to read passages.
• Fixation times on target words and initial landing positions were analyzed to assess word identification and eye movement control.

Main Results:

• Reading rate decreased by approximately 50% when space information was absent.
• The absence of spaces amplified the effect of word frequency on fixation times, indicating impaired word identification.
• Removal of spaces altered initial landing positions on words, suggesting affected eye movement control.

Conclusions:

• The availability of inter-word space information is critical for efficient reading.
• Lack of spacing significantly increases reading difficulty by interfering with word identification and eye movement control.
• These findings have implications for understanding reading processes and designing readable text formats.