The study of eye movements has a long and rich history in reading research. Indeed, some of the earliest experimental studies of skilled reading involved measuring eye movements (see Huey, 1908). Since 1975, there has been an increasing awareness that eye movements provide very important information about the moment to moment processing that occurs during reading (Rayner, 1978(Rayner, , 1998)). In this chapter, we first provide background information about the basic characteristics of eye movements during reading and how they are affected by reading skill. Then we review research on (1) the perceptual span during reading, (2) how much readers benefit from a preview of words to the right of the fixated word during reading (preview benefit), and (3) the control of eye movements during reading. Much of the research on eye movements during reading has focused on these issues. Following our discussion of these important issues, we discuss recent trends regarding eye movements and reading. We conclude with a discussion of models of eye movement control in reading.
We will begin by making two important points with respect to eye movement research. First, there are two types of research with respect to eye movements and reading (see Rayner, 1995; Rayner & Liversedge, 2004, for discussion). Some researchers are primarily interested in eye movements per se and use the task of reading as a way to study the oculomotor system. At the other extreme are researchers who use eye movements as a tool to study some aspect of language processing. This group tends not to be interested in the details of eye movements per se. From our perspective, it is important to have some understanding of research from both approaches because low-level oculomotor variables impinge on higher-order processing and vice versa (Rayner & Liversedge, 2004). Second, although a great deal of data have been collected regarding eye movements in reading, perhaps the most important recent trend is the development of sophisticated models of eye movement control that simulate reading performance. We will discuss this trend later.