Parafoveal processing of part-of-speech information in Chinese reading

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00441

Abstract

Abstract:

In this study, the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm was used to explore whether the part-of-speech information of parafoveal words can be processed in Chinese reading by manipulating the part-of-speech consistency between the preview words and the target words. The experiment adopted a single factor 3-level design with three previewing conditions: identical preview, part-of-speech non-violation preview and part-of-speech violation preview. The linear mixed model and Bayesian analysis of the experimental data showed that there was no significant difference on fixation durations and fixation probability of the target words under the condition of part-of-speech violation and part-of-speech non-violation suggesting no preview effect of part-of-speech information. The results tended to support the sequential attention shift model, and the future development of eye movement control model should pay more attention to flexibility and universality of the model.

Key words: Chinese reading, boundary paradigm, part-of-speech preview effect, eye movement control model

LU Zijia, FU Ying, ZHANG Manman, ZANG Chuanli, BAI Xuejun. (2022). Parafoveal processing of part-of-speech information in Chinese reading. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 54(5), 441-452.

Figures/Tables 8

References 49

[1]	Angele B., Laishley A. E., Rayner K., & Liversedge S. P.(2014). The effect of high- and low-frequency previews and sentential fit on word skipping during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(4), 1181-1203.
[2]	Angele B., & Rayner K.(2013). Processing the in the parafovea: Are articles skipped automatically? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(2), 649-662.
[3]	Ashby J., Treiman R., Kessler B., & Rayner K.(2006). Vowel processing during silent reading: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(2), 416-424.
[4]	Bai X. J., Liu J., Zang C. L., Zhang M. M., Guo X. F., & Yan G. L.(2011) The advance of parafoveal preview effects in Chinese reading. Advances in Psychological Science, 19(12), 1721-1729.
[5]	Brothers T., & Traxler M. J.(2016). Anticipating syntax during reading: Evidence from the boundary change paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(12), 1894-1906.
[6]	Cai Q., & Byrsbert M.(2010). Subtlex-ch: Chinese word and character frequencies based on film subtitles. Plos One, 5(6), Article e10729. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010729
[7]	Engbert R., Longtin A., & Kliegl R.(2002). A dynamical model of saccade generation in reading based on spatially distributed lexical processing. Vision Research, 42(5), 621-636.
[8]	Friederici A. D., Gunter T. C., Hahne A., & Mauth K.(2004). The relative timing of syntactic and semantic processes in sentence comprehension. Neuroreport, 15(1), 165-169.
[9]	Friederici A. D., Pfeifer E., & Hahne A.(1993). Event-related brain potentials during natural speech processing: Effects of semantic, morphological and syntactic violations. Cognitive Brain Research, 1(3), 183-192.
[10]	Gao F., & Xu S. H.(2000). N-V shift and pragmatic inference. Journal of Foreign Languages, (2), 7-14.
[11]	Gunter T. C., Friederici A. D., & Hahne A.(1999). Brain responses during sentence reading: Visual input affects central processes. Neuroreport, 10(15), 3175-3178.
[12]	Hu C. P., Kong X. Z., Wagenmakers E. -J., Ly A., & Peng K. P.(2018) The Bayes factor and its implementation in JASP: A practical primer. Advances in Psychological Science, 26(6), 951-965.
[13]	Kliegl R., Nuthmann A., & Engbert R.(2006). Tracking the mind during reading: The influence of past, present, and future words on fixation durations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 135(1), 12-35.
[14]	Li W. L., & Zhang H. C.(1993). The comparison of recognizing pictures, Chinese characters and English words. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 25(1), 24-30.
[15]	Liu F., & Wei Y.(2005). Diachronic study of English inflection from the perspective of cognitive grammar. Journal of China University of Mining & Technology (Social Sciences), 7(1), 112-118.
[16]	Liu W. M., Inhoff A. W., Ye Y., & Wu C. L.(2002). Use of parafoveally visible characters during the reading of Chinese sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 28(5), 1213-1227.
[17]	Nicenboim B., & Vasishth S., (2016). Statistical methods for linguistic research: Foundational ideas-part Ⅱ. Language and Linguistics Compass, 10(11), 591-613.
[18]	Pollatsek A., Juhasz B. J., Reichle E. D., Machacek D., & Rayner K.(2008). Immediate and delayed effects of word frequency and word length on eye movements in reading: A reversed delayed effect of word length. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance, 34(3), 726-750.
[19]	R Core Team. (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R foundation for statistical computing. Retrieved from
[20]	Rayner K.(1975). The perceptual span and peripheral cues in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 7(1), 65-81.
[21]	Rayner K.(2009). The Thirty Fifth Sir Frederick Bartlett Lecture: Eye movements and attention during reading, scene perception, and visual search. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62(8), 1457-1506.
[22]	Rayner K., Balota D. A., & Pollatsek A.(1986). Against parafoveal semantic preprocessing during eye fixations in reading. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40(4), 473-483.
[23]	Rayner K., & Schotter E. R.(2014). Semantic preview benefit in reading English: The effect of initial letter capitalization. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance, 40(4), 1617-1628.
[24]	Reichle E. D., Warren T., & Mcconnell K.(2009). Using E-Z reader to model the effects of higher level language processing on eye movements during reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16(1), 1-21.
[25]	Schotter E. R.(2013). Synonyms provide semantic preview benefit in English. Journal of Memory and Language, 69(4), 619-633.
[26]	Schotter E. R., & Jia A.(2016). Semantic and plausibility preview benefit effects in English: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(12), 1839-1866.
[27]	Schotter E. R., Lee M., Reiderman M., & Rayner K.(2015). The effect of contextual constraint on parafoveal processing in reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 83, 118-139.
[28]	Schotter E. R., & Leinenger M.(2016). Reversed preview benefit effects: Forced fixations emphasize the importance of parafoveal vision for efficient reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance, 42(12), 2039-2067.
[29]	Schotter E. R., Leinenger M., & von der Malsburg T.(2018). When your mind skips what your eyes fixate: How forced fixations lead to comprehension illusions in reading. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 25(5), 1884-1890.
[30]	Schotter E. R., Reichle E. D., & Rayner K.(2014). Rethinking parafoveal processing in reading: Serial-attention models can account for semantic preview benefit and N+2 preview effects. Visual Cognition, 22(3), 309-333.
[31]	Shen J. X.(2009). My view of word classes in Chinese. Linguistic Sciences, 8(1), 1-22.
[32]	Snell J., Meeter M., & Grainger J.(2017). Evidence for simultaneous syntactic processing of multiple words during reading. Plos One, 12(3), Article e0173720. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173720
[33]	Snell J., van Leipsig S., Grainger J., & Meeter M.(2018). OB1- Reader: A model of word recognition and eye movements in text reading. Psychological Review, 125(6), 969-984.
[34]	The contemporary Chinese dictionary 6th.(2012). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
[35]	Vasilev M. R., Yates M., Prueitt E., & Slattery T. J.(2020). Parafoveal degradation during reading reduces preview costs only when it is not perceptually distinct. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(2), 254-276.
[36]	Veldre A., & Andrews S.(2018). Beyond cloze probability: Parafoveal processing of semantic and syntactic information during reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 100, 1-17.
[37]	Veldre A., Reichle E. D., Wong R., & Andrews S.(2020). The effect of contextual plausibility on word skipping during reading. Cognition, 197, 104-184.
[38]	Yan M., Richter E. M., Shu H., & Kliegl R.(2009). Readers of Chinese extract semantic information from parafoveal words. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16(3), 561-566.
[39]	Yan G. L., Xiong J. P., Zang C. L., Yu L. L., Cui L., & Bai X. J.(2013). Review of eye-movement measures in reading research. Advances in Psychological Science, 21(4), 589-589.
[40]	Yan M., Zhou W., Shu H., & Kliegl R.(2012). Lexical and sublexical semantic preview benefits in Chinese reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 38(4), 1069-1075.
[41]	Yang J. M., Wang S. P., Chen H. C., & Rayner K.(2009). The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in Chinese sentence comprehension: Evidence from eye movements. Memory & Cognition, 37(8), 1164-1176.
[42]	Yang Y, Wu F. Y, Zhou X. L.(2015). Semantic processing persists despite anomalous syntactic category: ERP evidence from Chinese passive sentences. Plos One, 10(6), Article e0131936. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131936
[43]	Yu J., & Zhang Y. X.(2008). When Chinese semantics meets failed syntax. Neuroreport, 19(7), 745-749.
[44]	Zang C. L., Du H., Bai X. J., Yan G. L., & Liversedge S. P.(2019). Word skipping in Chinese reading: The role of high-frequency preview and syntactic felicity. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition, 46(4), 603-620.
[45]	Zang C. L., Lu Z. J., & Zhang Z. C.(2019). The role of semantic and syntactic information in parafoveal processing during reading. Advances in Psychological Science, 27(1), 11-19.
[46]	Zang C. L., Zhang M. M., Bai X. J., Yan G. L., Angele B., & Liversedge S. P.(2018). Skipping of the very-high-frequency structural particle de, in Chinese reading. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(1), 152-160.
[47]	Zhang J. J., Peng D. L., & Zhang H. C.(1991). The recovery of meaning of Chinese characters in the classifying process (Ⅱ). Acta Psychologica Sinica, 23(2), 139-144.
[48]	Zhang M. M., Zang C. L., & Bai X. J.(2020). The spatial extent and depth of parafoveal pre-processing during Chinese reading. Advances in Psychological Science, 28(6), 871-882.
[49]	Zhang J. J., Zhang H. C., & Peng D. L.(1990). The recovery of meaning of Chinese characters in the classifying process (Ⅰ). Acta Psychologica Sinica, 22(4), 397-405.

Preview condition	Part-of-speech	Familiarity of part-of-speech (Probability used as a noun)	Word frequency	Number of strokes	phonological correlation	Semantic correlation
1 Consistent preview	Noun	95.74% (10.07%)	127.35 (182.55)	9.04 (3.37)
2 Part-of-speech non-violation preview	Noun	94.74% (10.39%)	124.05 (164.33)	9.07 (2.67)	1.19 (0.19)	1.23 (0.29)
3 Part-of-speech violation preview	Verb	2.25% (6.16%)	121.38 (134.95)	9.24 (2.55)	1.21 (0.18)	1.17 (0.24)

Preview condition	Part-of-speech	Familiarity of part-of-speech (Probability used as a noun)	Word frequency	Number of strokes	phonological correlation	Semantic correlation
1 Consistent preview	Noun	95.74% (10.07%)	127.35 (182.55)	9.04 (3.37)
2 Part-of-speech non-violation preview	Noun	94.74% (10.39%)	124.05 (164.33)	9.07 (2.67)	1.19 (0.19)	1.23 (0.29)
3 Part-of-speech violation preview	Verb	2.25% (6.16%)	121.38 (134.95)	9.24 (2.55)	1.21 (0.18)	1.17 (0.24)

Preview condition	Sentences
1 Consistent preview	今天我准备炸些￤虾来招待我的好朋友们。Today, I’m going to fry some shrimps to entertain my friends.
2 Part-of-speech non-violation preview	今天我准备炸些￤狼来招待我的好朋友们。Today, I’m going to blow up some wolves to entertain my friends.
3 Part-of-speech violation preview	今天我准备炸些￤割来招待我的好朋友们。Today, I’m going to fry some cut to entertain my friends.

Preview condition	Sentences
1 Consistent preview	今天我准备炸些￤虾来招待我的好朋友们。Today, I’m going to fry some shrimps to entertain my friends.
2 Part-of-speech non-violation preview	今天我准备炸些￤狼来招待我的好朋友们。Today, I’m going to blow up some wolves to entertain my friends.
3 Part-of-speech violation preview	今天我准备炸些￤割来招待我的好朋友们。Today, I’m going to fry some cut to entertain my friends.

	1 Consistent Preview	2 Part-of-speech non-violation preview Violate Preview	3 Part-of-speech violation preview
FFD	228 (44)	230 (48)	232 (47)
GD	231 (46)	235 (50)	235 (49)
Go-past	277 (96)	302 (108)	301 (126)
SP	0.59 (0.19)	0.57 (0.17)	0.57 (0.18)
Regression-out	0.14 (0.21)	0.18 (0.21)	0.18 (0.23)
Regression-in	0.12 (0.18)	0.26 (0.22)	0.22 (0.22)