title: The IOVP effect in mindless reading: experiment and modeling.
abstract: Fixation durations in reading are longer for within-word fixation positions close to word center than for positions near word boundaries. This counterintuitive result was termed the Inverted-Optimal Viewing Position (IOVP) effect. We proposed an explanation of the effect based on error-correction of mislocated fixations [Nuthmann, A., Engbert, R., & Kliegl, R. (2005). Mislocated fixations during reading and the inverted optimal viewing position effect. Vision Research, 45, 2201-2217], that suggests that the IOVP effect is not related to word processing. Here we demonstrate the existence of an IOVP effect in "mindless reading", a z-string scanning task. We compare the results from experimental data with results obtained from computer simulations of a simple model of the IOVP effect and discuss alternative accounts. We conclude that oculomotor errors, which often induce mislocalized fixations, represent the most important source of the IOVP effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. nuthmann@uni-potsdam.de
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nuthmann
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Engbert
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kliegl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011932:Reading; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology