For a study, researchers sought to introduce the idea of reading time regularity (RTR) as a metric for capturing the dynamics of the reading experience. The first research looked at one of RTR’s assumptions, namely that process measurement of reading, such as eye movement fluctuations and fixation lengths, display greater regularity when dependent on sequentially organized information, such as texts. To put this to the test, 26 German native speakers’ eye movements were recorded while doing reading-unrelated and reading-related activities. To assess the degree of temporal structure in time series of gaze steps and fixation durations, they utilized recurrence quantification analysis and sample entropy analysis on the data. The results revealed that when reading, eye movements became more regular than when not reading.
When estimated using gaze step data, the impacts were most pronounced. Eye movements of 27 native German speakers were recorded in a second investigation for five scenarios with increasing linguistic content. The findings mirrored the previous study’s findings, proving that the effects were not owing to variations in task instructions between circumstances. The implications for the RTR idea and future studies employing the measures in reading research were highlighted.
Reference:jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2778857
