Properties of attention during reading lessons.

Investigated the attention of 116 children in 6 2nd- and 3rd-grade classrooms while they participated in 4 lessons involving progressively more difficult stories. Analysis of videotapes of the lessons revealed that the likelihood of a lapse of attention was highest during the 1st 15 sec of attention episodes. Lapses in attention were more likely among 2nd graders than among 3rd graders, among boys than among girls, in low groups than in middle groups, and in middle groups than in high groups. The more difficult the story, the more likely were lapses in attention, especially among younger and less able students. Reading-group membership was more strongly related to attention than were reliable measures of children's individual comprehension and fluency; a leading hypothesis to explain this finding is that reading groups have subcultures that differentially support paying attention. The most newsworthy finding of the study was the sharp drop in attention after oral reading errors; this drop was observed in all reading groups in both 2nd and 3rd grades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causality and the allocation of attention during comprehension.

Recent research has suggested that each statement in a narrative text is understood by relating it to its causal antecedents and consequences and that the text as a whole is understood by finding a causal path linking its opening to its final outcome. C. R. Fletcher and C. P. Bloom (see record 1989-10829-001) have proposed that in order to accomplish this goal, while minimizing the number of times long-term memory has to be searched, readers focus their attention on the last clause of a narrative that has causal antecedents but no consequences in the preceding text. As a result, a statement that is followed by a causal antecedent should remain the focus of attention, while the same statement followed by a consequence should not. This prediction was tested and confirmed in three experiments which show that when a target statement is followed by a sentence that includes only causal antecedents (a) continuation sentences related to it are read more quickly, (b) target words drawn from it are easier to recognize, and (c) subject-generated continuations are more likely to be causally related to it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of verbal and nonverbal references to print on preschoolers' visual attention to print during storybook reading.

How much do preschool children look at print within storybooks when adults read to them? This study sought to answer this question as well as to examine the effects of adult verbal and nonverbal references to print on children's visual attention to print during storybook reading. Forty-four preschool-aged children participated in this study designed to determine the amount of visual attention children paid to print in 4 planned variations of storybook reading. Children's visual attention to print was examined when adults commented and questioned about print (verbal print condition) or pointed to and tracked the print (nonverbal print condition), relative to 2 comparison conditions (verbatim reading and verbal picture conditions). Results showed that children rarely look at print, with about 5%-6% of their fixations allocated to print in verbatim and verbal picture reading conditions. However, preschoolers' visual attention to print increases significantly when adults verbally and nonverbally reference print; both reading styles exerted similar effects. The authors conclude that explicit referencing of print is 1 way to increase young children's contacts with print during shared storybook reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging, memory load, and resource allocation during reading.

To test the notion that aging brings an inability to self-initiate processing, the authors investigated the effects of memory load on online sentence understanding. Younger and older adults read a series of short passages with or without a simultaneous updating task, which would be expected to deplete resources by consuming memory capacity. Regression analyses of word-by-word reading times onto text variables within each condition were used to decompose reading times into resources allocated to the array of word-level and textbase-level processes needed for comprehension. Among neither the young nor the old were word-level processes disrupted by a simultaneous memory load. However, older readers showed relatively greater levels of resource allocation to conceptual integration than the younger adults when under load, regardless of working-memory span or task priority. These results suggest that the ability to self-initiate the allocation of processing resources during reading is preserved among older readers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interspersed postpassage questions and reading comprehension achievement.

Examined the effect of interspersed postpassage questions on reading comprehension of 54 2nd graders classified as having top, middle, or lower 3rd entering reading level. Ss were either instructed in the use of questions or taught reading in a regular fashion. Results from the Reading Comprehension subtest of the SRA Achievement Series show that although questioning instruction had little effect on the above average readers, both normal and below average readers made significant gains in comprehension when instructed in the use of postpassage questions. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resource allocation and context utilization in the reading process.

Two experiments with 294 undergraduates studied the relationship between lower level code availability and top–down contextual processing in word recognition. The utility of context information was measured by a word boundary task, which required Ss to rapidly separate words from a uniformly spaced array of letters. Context was manipulated in terms of coherent vs random passage organization and the presence or absence of prior thematic framework information. Low-level code availability was impaired in a reversed orthographic condition as indicated by reduced performance rates compared with normal presentations. Results show that the increment in performance resulting from coherent organization relative to the random passage was equivalent in both normal and reversed orthographic forms. It appears that framework information can operate as an additional knowledge source to increase performance. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inference during reading.

Most current theories of text processing assume a constructionist view of inference processing. In this article, an alternative view is proposed, labeled the minimalist hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the only inferences that are encoded automatically during reading are those that are based on easily available information, either from explicit statements in the text or from general knowledge, and those that are required to make statements in the text locally coherent. The minimalist hypothesis is shown to be supported by previous research and by the results of several new experiments. It is also argued that automatically encoded minimalist inferences provide the basic representation of textual information from which more goal-directed, purposeful inferences are constructed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of salient advertisements on reading and attention on web pages.

Human vision is sensitive to salient features such as motion. Therefore, animation and onset of advertisements on Websites may attract visual attention and disrupt reading. We conducted three eye tracking experiments with authentic Web pages to assess whether (a) ads are efficiently ignored, (b) ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt reading, or (c) ads are covertly attended with distraction showing up indirectly in the reading performance. The Web pages contained an ad above a central text and another ad to the right of the text. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3A the task was to read for comprehension. Experiment 1 examined whether the degree of animation affects attention toward the ads. The results showed that ads were overtly attended during reading and that the dwell times on ads were the longest when the ad above was static and the other ad was animated. In Experiments 2 and 3, the ads appeared abruptly after a random time interval. The results showed that attention (i.e., the time when the eyes first entered an ad) was related to the ad onset time. This happened especially for the ad to the right, indicating that ads appearing close to the text region capture overt attention. In Experiment 3B the participants browsed the Web pages according to their own interest. The study demonstrated that salient ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt reading, but during free browsing, ads were viewed more frequently and for longer time than during reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel allocation of attention prior to the execution of saccade sequences.

In a series of 5 experiments, the allocation of attention prior to the execution of saccade sequences was examined by using a dual-task paradigm. In the primary task, participants were required to execute a sequence of 2 endogenous saccades. The secondary task was a forced-choice letter identification task. During the programming of the saccade sequences, letters were briefly presented at the saccade goals and at no-saccade locations. The results showed that performance was better for letters presented at any of the saccade goals than for letters presented at any of the no-saccade locations. The results support a spatial model that assumes that prior to the execution of a saccade sequence, attention is allocated in parallel to all saccade goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anaphoric inference during reading.

Examined whether antecedents are reactivated by anaphor, in 3 experiments with a total of 144 undergraduates, using additional control sentences and an alternative response time measure. Ss read a series of texts each containing a target item. Immediately after the last line of each text, the item was probed using a recognition task in Exp I and a naming task in Exp II. Ss were faster to respond to the item when the last line contained an anaphoric reference to it than when the last line referred to a different item from the text. Additional control conditions ensured that the effect was not due to semantic priming and that the probed item was not in working memory when the last line was encountered. Findings in Exp III, which compared reading and naming times when the last sentence continued the established topic with times when the last sentence changed the topic, suggest that previous evidence for reinstatement reflected interference from a change of topic in the last line rather than facilitation due to reinstatement of the probed item. It is suggested that the paradigm developed by G. McKoon and R. Ratcliff (see record 1981-24997-001) requires careful control of variables. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extremely selective attention: Eye-tracking studies of the dynamic allocation of attention to stimulus features in categorization.

Humans have an extremely flexible ability to categorize regularities in their environment, in part because of attentional systems that allow them to focus on important perceptual information. In formal theories of categorization, attention is typically modeled with weights that selectively bias the processing of stimulus features. These theories make differing predictions about the degree of flexibility with which attention can be deployed in response to stimulus properties. Results from 2 eye-tracking studies show that humans can rapidly learn to differently allocate attention to members of different categories. These results provide the first unequivocal demonstration of stimulus-responsive attention in a categorization task. Furthermore, the authors found clear temporal patterns in the shifting of attention within trials that follow from the informativeness of particular stimulus features. These data provide new insights into the attention processes involved in categorization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task effects on eye movements during reading.

The present study examined how proofreading and reading-for-comprehension instructions influence eye movements during reading. Thirty-seven participants silently read sentences containing compound words as target words while their eye movements were being recorded. We manipulated word length and frequency to examine how task instructions influence orthographic versus lexical–semantic processing during reading. Task instructions influenced both temporal and spatial aspects of eye movements: The initial landing position in words was shifted leftward, the saccade length was shorter, first fixation and gaze duration were longer, and refixation probability was higher during proofreading than during reading for comprehension. Moreover, in comparison to instructions for reading for comprehension, proofreading instructions increased both orthographic and lexical–semantic processing. This became apparent in a greater word length and word frequency effect in gaze duration during proofreading than during reading for comprehension. The present study suggests that the allocation of attentional resources during reading is significantly modulated by task demands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resource allocation in on-line reading by younger and older adults.

Younger and older adults read a series of expository passages for immediate recall by self-pacing the presentation sector-by-sector on a computer screen. Regression analysis of sector reading times (RT) was used to estimate the time allocated by individuals to word-level (i.e., syllable length and mean word frequency), text-level (i.e., number of propositions, number of new concepts introduced, and total Yngve depth), and discourse-level (i.e., serial position) features. Age differences were found in the pattern of reading time allocation that engendered high levels of recall. Specifically, younger adults who achieved high recall were more responsive to word frequency and the introduction of new concepts. By contrast, high recall among the old was related to a greater degree of on-line contextual facilitation (i.e., a steeper serial position effect). These data suggest that there is an age difference in how the allocation of resources at encoding optimizes subsequent memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maintaining global coherence during reading.

Previous research demonstrated a contradiction effect: Although text currently being processed was locally coherent, readers were aware of inconsistencies between a protagonist's actions and characteristics of the protagonists that were described earlier in the text and subsequently backgrounded. In the present experiments, not only the critical characteristics but also the protagonist were backgrounded. When the protagonist was reintroduced into the narrative in the context of carrying out an inconsistent action, the contradiction effect again occurred. In Exps 1–3, we examined the effects of several variables on the onset of the effect. In Exp 4, we presented probes at various points in the passage with results that supported the conclusion that the critical characteristics had been backgrounded before the sentence that contradicted them. Results are discussed in terms of several recent models in which currently active representational elements serve as retrieval cues for other inactive, but highly related, elements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling drivers' visual attention allocation while interacting with in-vehicle technologies.

In 2 experiments, the authors examined how characteristics of a simulated traffic environment and in-vehicle tasks impact driver performance and visual scanning and the extent to which a computational model of visual attention (SEEV model) could predict scanning behavior. In Experiment 1, the authors manipulated task-relevant information bandwidth and task priority. In Experiment 2, the authors examined task bandwidth and complexity, while introducing infrequent traffic hazards. Overall, task priority had a significant impact on scanning; however, the impact of increasing bandwidth was varied, depending on whether the relevant task was supported by focal (e.g., in-vehicle tasks; increased scanning) or ambient vision (e.g., lane keeping; no increase in scanning). The computational model accounted for approximately 95% of the variance in scanning across both experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accessing global causes during reading.

In 4 experiments, the authors examined whether readers accessed distant causal antecedents for consequent events when the text was locally coherent and a more recent causal antecedent was available. Participants read passages that contained 2 possible causal antecedents for a consequent event; 1 appeared early in the passage, and the other appeared late. The early causal antecedent was elaborated in half of the passages, and neither causal antecedent was elaborated in the remaining half. Experiments 1A and 1B demonstrated that when the more distant, early causal antecedent had been elaborated, both it and the more recent, late causal antecedent were active in memory following the consequent event. In Experiments 2A and 2B, both causal antecedents were backgrounded prior to reading the consequent event. When neither causal antecedent had been elaborated, only the late causal antecedent was reactivated by the consequent event. However, when the early causal antecedent had been elaborated, only it was reactivated. Results are discussed in terms of several recent models of comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term retention of discourse during reading.

In 2 experiments, 68 3rd, 4th, and 6th graders at different reading levels were given a probe memory task assessing the availability in working memory of recently read discourse segments. During oral and silent reading (Exp I), retention was related to segment length and the occurrence of a sentence boundary. The limits on retention were tested by increasing segment length and difficulty (Exp II). For these segments, performance of less skilled readers was uniformly low, whereas that of the skilled and older readers continued to be affected by length and sentence boundary. Relationships between individual differences in verbal coding processes and short-term retention of discourse as well as implications for text comprehension models are discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reinstatement of causal information during reading.

An on-line word naming probe was used to test whether information presented earlier in a text, and then backgrounded by several sentences, would be reinstated when Ss were required to understand the cause of a currently processed action or event. In Exp 1, Ss named a probe word that represented an earlier-mentioned cause more quickly when it followed a causal coherence break than when it followed a neutral sentence. Exps 2 and 3 replicated this effect and examined 2 conditions that may affect the process of reinstating a cause: (1) inclusion of part of the context in which the cause was originally presented was not necessary to obtain reinstatement of the cause and (2) reinstatement of the cause was not evidenced when it had been disconfirmed earlier in the text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of speech variety on teachers' evaluation of reading comprehension.

Investigated how 2 speech varieties, standard English and Black English, used during an oral reading and recall task influenced 64 White and 8 Black teachers' (mean age 36 yrs) evaluations of reading comprehension and how teachers' attitudes toward Black English related to those evaluations. Measures included the Oral Reading and Recall Evaluation, the Reading Miscue Inventory, and the Language Attitude Scale. Although the proportion of variance accounted for by the overall model was not great (11%), significant contrasts between the evaluations of 2 readers, one a Black English speaker and one a standard English speaker, were found with teachers who held negative attitudes toward Black English. No significant contrasts were found with teachers who held positive attitudes toward Black English. Results indicate that Black English readers were rated lower in reading comprehension than equivalent standard English readers when teachers held a negative attitude toward their language. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

P300 and allocation of attention in dual-tasks

The performance of the CELL-DYN 1700 (Abbott Diagnostics, Abbott Park, IL, USA) was evaluated in a tertiary care hospital laboratory using the guidelines proposed by the German Society of Clinical Chemistry. Precision, accuracy, linearity, background counts, and carry-over were satisfactory for all measured standard parameters including haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, red blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red cell distribution width (RDW), white blood cell count and platelet count. With 259 selected normal and abnormal blood samples the results of the CELL-DYN 1700 (CD1700) compared very well (r > 0.96 for all parameters with exception of RDW) with those obtained with the Bayer Diagnostic H-1 and the Hoffmann-La Roche Cobas Argos systems. This study considered in particular the performance of the CD1700 three-part leucocyte differential. For those samples without instrument-generated suspect flags, the neutrophil and lymphocyte percentages were highly correlated with the results of the H-1 blood cell counter (r = 0.97 and 0.98, respectively) and with manual 400-cell differentials (r = 0.91 and 0.88, respectively). In contrast, the CD1700 mid-fraction which comprised the composite total of monocytes, eosinophils, basophils and precursor white cells (when present) could not be directly compared to the differentials from the H-1 system or from manual microscopy. For those samples with CD1700 instrument suspect flags, the neutrophil and lymphocyte differential results also compared well with both the H-1 (r = 0.93 and 0.93, respectively) and manual estimates (r = 0.89 and 0.87, respectively). In conclusion, the CD1700 is an accurate haematology analyser for cellular blood counts and three-part leucocyte differentiation.