title: Page mode reading with simulated scotomas: oculo-motor patterns.
abstract: This study investigated the relationship between reading speed and oculo-motor parameters when normally sighted observers had to read single sentences with an artificial macular scotoma. Using multiple regression analysis, our main result shows that two significant predictors, number of saccades per sentence followed by average fixation duration, account for 94% of reading speed variance: reading speed decreases when number of saccades and fixation duration increase. The number of letters per forward saccade (L/FS), which was measured directly in contrast to previous studies, is not a significant predictor. The results suggest that, independently of the size of saccades, some or all portions of a sentence are temporally integrated across an increasing number of fixations as reading speed is reduced.
authors.affiliation: Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Etienne (Enise), DIPI EA3719, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Catherine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Scherlen
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011601:Psychophysics; D011932:Reading; D012438:Saccades; D012607:Scotoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000503:physiopathology; D014794:Visual Fields