Acquisition of Visual Information During Reading: The Perceptual Span of Children and Adults

Abstract

The study was designed to determine whether the size of the perceptual span in reading is a function of reading ability. Three experiments were conducted, using a modified form of the McConkie and Rayner paradigm to compare the size of the perceptual span of grade 5 good and poor readers, and children and adults. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that adults acquired letter information from a region of text extending two letters leftwards of the center of fixation through to about six letters to the right. The second experiment verified the right parameter with adults. The third experiment found that good and poor readers acquired letter information from two letters to the left and six letters to the right of the fixation point. No differences were found between good and poor readers, or children and adults with respect to the size of the perceptual span. The study also investigated the notion that the word served as a perceptual unit in reading. No evidence was found to support this notion. Some data supported the relationship between the size of the perceptual span and saccade length. The data suggested a complex relationship between duration of fixation and saccades. The results of all three experiments supported the hypothesis concerning a cognitive lag in processing of visual information.