Memory for word locations in reading.
Sentences were presented in various spatial formats, and readers localised one word of each sentence using a mouse cursor directly after reading. There was a localisation advantage for cumulative over single-word displays, for left-to-right presentation over presentation in a 3 x 3 grid, and for complete over incomplete sentences. Comparing performance for predictable and unpredictable word locations suggests that word location memory in reading decays within three seconds to a span of only 2-3 entries, and that readers can then reconstruct word locations from item memory. Implications for the role of spatial cognition in reading are discussed.
Fischer
M H
MH
Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. martin@psy.uni-muenchen.de
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011932:Reading