Children’s and adults’ parafoveal processes in German: Phonological and orthographic effects.

Phonological and orthographic information has been shown to play an important role in parafoveal processing in skilled adult reading in English. In the present study, we investigated whether similar parafoveal effects can be found in children using the boundary eye tracking method. Children and adults read sentences in German with embedded target nouns which were presented in original, pseudohomophone (PsH), transposed-letter (TL), lower-case and control conditions to assess phonological and orthographic preview effects. We found evidence of PsH preview benefit effects for children. We also found TL preview benefit effects for adults, while children only showed these effects under specific conditions. Results are consistent with the developmental view that reading initially depends on phonological processes and that orthographic processes become increasingly important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Accession Number: 2015-28918-004. Other Journal Title: European Journal of Cognitive Psychology. Partial author list: First Author & Affiliation: Tiffin-Richards, Simon P.; MPRG Reading Education and Development (REaD), Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. Release Date: 20150720. Publication Type: Journal (0100), Peer Reviewed Journal (0110). Format Covered: Electronic. Document Type: Journal Article. Language: English. Major Descriptor: Age Differences; Eye Movements; Orthography; Phonology; Reading. Minor Descriptor: Primary School Students. Classification: Cognitive & Perceptual Development (2820). Population: Human (10); Male (30); Female (40). Location: Germany. Age Group: Childhood (birth-12 yrs) (100); School Age (6-12 yrs) (180). Methodology: Empirical Study; Quantitative Study. References Available: Y. Page Count: 18. Issue Publication Date: Jul, 2015. Copyright Statement: Taylor & Francis. 2015.