The Eye: A Window to Event Cognition

Presentation Type

Poster/Portfolio

Presenter Major(s)

Education - Special Education, Psychology, Criminal Justice, English, Sociology

Mentor Information

Benjamin Swets

Department

Psychology

Location

Henry Hall Atrium 19

Start Date

11-4-2012 9:00 AM

Keywords

Social Science

Abstract

Past research suggests readers segment information presented in narrative texts into discrete events, with distinct boundaries between those events. However, methods used to demonstrate this segmentation have so far been limited to offline measures. The present study examines whether segmentation may be demonstrated with a measure that uses online cognitive processing: eye movements. Participants read narrative passages as their eye movements were monitored. Based on prior research, clauses were coded as event boundaries (i.e., the start of a new event) or event middles. We found that participants fixated longer on boundary clauses. Remarkably, these effects appeared within the first three fixations on the boundary clause. Participants also re-read boundary clauses more often than event middles. Our online measures, which reflect both immediate and prolonged effects of boundaries on eye movements, help clarify prior theories of event segmentation while comprehending narratives.

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Apr 11th, 9:00 AM

The Eye: A Window to Event Cognition

Henry Hall Atrium 19

Past research suggests readers segment information presented in narrative texts into discrete events, with distinct boundaries between those events. However, methods used to demonstrate this segmentation have so far been limited to offline measures. The present study examines whether segmentation may be demonstrated with a measure that uses online cognitive processing: eye movements. Participants read narrative passages as their eye movements were monitored. Based on prior research, clauses were coded as event boundaries (i.e., the start of a new event) or event middles. We found that participants fixated longer on boundary clauses. Remarkably, these effects appeared within the first three fixations on the boundary clause. Participants also re-read boundary clauses more often than event middles. Our online measures, which reflect both immediate and prolonged effects of boundaries on eye movements, help clarify prior theories of event segmentation while comprehending narratives.