The IOVP effect in mindless reading: experiment and modeling.
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.
Nuthmann
Antje
A
Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. nuthmann@uni-potsdam.de
Engbert
Ralf
R
Kliegl
Reinhold
R
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