A team led by Elizabeth Schotter and first author Sara Milligan published new research in Psychophysiology on how eye movements and brain activity work together during reading. Participants read sentences naturally while researchers recorded brain waves with an EEG cap and tracked gaze with a camera-based eye-tracking system.
The experiment included 55 participants. Each person completed a tracked reading session lasting approximately two hours and silently read 180 sentences, pressing a button after each one. The researchers manipulated upcoming words so they were expected, slightly altered, or unexpected. Eye movements during reading occur roughly every 250 milliseconds, so the team linked eye data to real-time brain activity to study split-second reading decisions.
Results show that skipping a word does not mean it was ignored. Brain signals indicate readers often partially register skipped words in advance and can detect whether a word is expected or irregular. The decision to skip happens before full word recognition, suggesting a fast, predictive system. The study may inform reading instruction and interventions, and the team plans follow-up work on skimming, comprehension, and individual differences across the lifespan.
Difficult words
- manipulate — change something deliberately to test effectsmanipulated
- gaze — direction of a person's look or eyes
- register — notice or store information in the mind
- predictive — based on guessing what will happen next
- intervention — action to improve a situation or probleminterventions
- skim — read quickly to get main ideasskimming
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Have you ever skipped words while reading? How did that affect your comprehension?
- Can teachers help students develop a faster, predictive reading system? Why or why not?
- Which follow-up study from the article would interest you most — skimming, comprehension, or individual differences — and why?
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