Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34873275›Full record

SynthesisNature human behaviour2022

Eye movements during text reading align with the rate of speech production.

Benjamin Gagl, Klara Gregorova, Julius Golch, Stefan Hawelka, Jona Sassenhagen, Alessandro Tavano, David Poeppel, Christian J Fiebach

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Nature human behaviour, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  9. Fast and Slow Rhythms of Naturalistic Reading Revealed by Combined Eye-Tracking and Electroencephalography.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2023
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Benjamin GaglDepartment of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. benjamin.gagl@univie.ac.at.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2339-6293
Klara GregorovaDepartment of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3828-9386
Julius GolchDepartment of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Stefan HawelkaCentre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5304-8521
Jona SassenhagenDepartment of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Alessandro TavanoMax Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
David PoeppelErnst Struengmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0184-163X
Christian J FiebachDepartment of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0827-1721

Funding

EC | EC Seventh Framework Programm | FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific Programme: "Ideas" Implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007 to 2013)) 617891EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (H2020 Excellent Science - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) 707932
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Across languages, the speech signal is characterized by a predominant modulation of the amplitude spectrum between about 4.3 and 5.5 Hz, reflecting the production and processing of linguistic information chunks (syllables and words) every ~200 ms. Interestingly, ~200 ms is also the typical duration of eye fixations during reading. Prompted by this observation, we demonstrate that German readers sample written text at ~5 Hz. A subsequent meta-analysis of 142 studies from 14 languages replicates this result and shows that sampling frequencies vary across languages between 3.9 Hz and 5.2 Hz. This variation systematically depends on the complexity of the writing systems (character-based versus alphabetic systems and orthographic transparency). Finally, we empirically demonstrate a positive correlation between speech spectrum and eye movement sampling in low-skilled non-native readers, with tentative evidence from post hoc analysis suggesting the same relationship in low-skilled native readers. On the basis of this convergent evidence, we propose that during reading, our brain's linguistic processing systems imprint a preferred processing rate-that is, the rate of spoken language production and perception-onto the oculomotor system.

Indexed as

Eye MovementsReadingHumansLanguageLinguisticsSpeech

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.