Eye Movements during Silent and Oral Reading in a Regular Orthography: Basic Characteristics and Correlations with Childhood Cognitive Abilities and Adolescent Reading Skills.
The present study aimed to define differences between silent and oral reading with respect to spatial and temporal eye movement parameters. Eye movements of 22 German-speaking adolescents (14 females; mean age = 13;6 years;months) were recorded while reading an age-appropriate text silently and orally. Preschool cognitive abilities were assessed at the participants' age of 5;7 (years;months) using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. The participants' reading speed and reading comprehension at the age of 13;6 (years;months) were determined using a standardized inventory to evaluate silent reading skills in German readers (Lesegeschwindigkeits- und -verständnistest für Klassen 6-12). The results show that (i) reading mode significantly influenced both spatial and temporal characteristics of eye movement patterns; (ii) articulation decreased the consistency of intraindividual reading performances with regard to a significant number of eye movement parameters; (iii) reading skills predicted the majority of eye movement parameters during silent reading, but influenced only a restricted number of eye movement parameters when reading orally; (iv) differences with respect to a subset of eye movement parameters increased with reading skills; (v) an overall preschool cognitive performance score predicted reading skills at the age of 13;6 (years;months), but not eye movement patterns during either silent or oral reading. However, we found a few significant correlations between preschool performances on subscales of sequential and simultaneous processing and eye movement parameters for both reading modes. Overall, the findings suggest that eye movement patterns depend on the reading mode. Preschool cognitive abilities were more closely related to eye movement patterns of oral than silent reading, while reading skills predicted eye movement patterns during silent reading, but less so during oral reading.
Research Unit iDN-Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Magdalena
M
Krieber
Research Unit iDN-Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Katrin D
KD
Bartl-Pokorny
Research Unit iDN-Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.|BEE-PRI: Brain, Ears & Eyes-Pattern Recognition Initiative, BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria.|Machine Intelligence & Signal Processing Group, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Florian B
FB
Pokorny
Research Unit iDN-Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Dajie
D
Zhang
Developmental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Karin
K
Landerl
Cognitive Psychology & Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Christof
C
Körner
BEE-PRI: Brain, Ears & Eyes-Pattern Recognition Initiative, BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria.|Signal Processing and Speech Communication Laboratory, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Franz
F
Pernkopf
Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Thomas
T
Pock
Research Unit iDN-Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Christa
C
Einspieler
Research Unit iDN-Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.|BEE-PRI: Brain, Ears & Eyes-Pattern Recognition Initiative, BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria.|Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Peter B
PB
Marschik
D000293:Adolescent; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading