Scholarlink

<p>Although the time available to read a text is crucial for comprehension, there is not yet any comprehensive within-participant study describing how text comprehension decreases and readers’ eye movements are adjusted with increasing time constraints. Consequently, this study examined how imposing reading times influenced both text comprehension and eye movements. Thirty participants had to read three-sentence texts within a time limit (6.3, 9.5, 19.0 or 38.0&#xa0;s) or without a time constraint, and then to answer a question about each text to assess comprehension. At the longest reading time, text comprehension was good, with 87% correct answers. Text comprehension decreased with reading time, reaching 49% correct answers at the shortest reading time. Interestingly, text comprehension decreased linearly with the average actual speed at which participants read the texts, estimated from horizontal gaze velocity. Between the longest and shortest reading times, saccade amplitude and gaze velocity increased by 16% and 37%, respectively, while fixation duration decreased by 14%. Adapting eye movements to time constraints did not radically change how participants read texts, as they continued to make regressive saccades and to fixate three quarters of content words even at the shortest reading time. Finally, under tight time constraints, the greater participants’ saccade amplitude and gaze velocity, the higher their answer accuracy. This study highlights the resilience of the cognitive and oculomotor mechanisms involved in reading, since a six-fold reduction in reading time only induced a two-fold reduction in comprehension, and opens new avenues for assessing text comprehension using eye movements.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

The impact of reading time constraints on text comprehension and eye movements

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月21日

查看全文
  • Nicolas Vibert,
  • Zorha Colas,
  • Frederic R. Danion

摘要

Although the time available to read a text is crucial for comprehension, there is not yet any comprehensive within-participant study describing how text comprehension decreases and readers’ eye movements are adjusted with increasing time constraints. Consequently, this study examined how imposing reading times influenced both text comprehension and eye movements. Thirty participants had to read three-sentence texts within a time limit (6.3, 9.5, 19.0 or 38.0 s) or without a time constraint, and then to answer a question about each text to assess comprehension. At the longest reading time, text comprehension was good, with 87% correct answers. Text comprehension decreased with reading time, reaching 49% correct answers at the shortest reading time. Interestingly, text comprehension decreased linearly with the average actual speed at which participants read the texts, estimated from horizontal gaze velocity. Between the longest and shortest reading times, saccade amplitude and gaze velocity increased by 16% and 37%, respectively, while fixation duration decreased by 14%. Adapting eye movements to time constraints did not radically change how participants read texts, as they continued to make regressive saccades and to fixate three quarters of content words even at the shortest reading time. Finally, under tight time constraints, the greater participants’ saccade amplitude and gaze velocity, the higher their answer accuracy. This study highlights the resilience of the cognitive and oculomotor mechanisms involved in reading, since a six-fold reduction in reading time only induced a two-fold reduction in comprehension, and opens new avenues for assessing text comprehension using eye movements.