Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Study of Bottom-Up and Top-Down Influences in the Reading Task in Arabic

Version 1 : Received: 25 July 2023 / Approved: 25 July 2023 / Online: 26 July 2023 (10:14:39 CEST)

How to cite: Rami, Y.; Laanaya, H.; Hassan, B.; Badaoui, B. Study of Bottom-Up and Top-Down Influences in the Reading Task in Arabic. Preprints 2023, 2023071749. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202307.1749.v1 Rami, Y.; Laanaya, H.; Hassan, B.; Badaoui, B. Study of Bottom-Up and Top-Down Influences in the Reading Task in Arabic. Preprints 2023, 2023071749. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202307.1749.v1

Abstract

The visual span refers to the number of letters readers can identify in a single fixation without using linguistic skills. Proponents of the visual span hypothesis postulate an influence of early visual processing on reading speed. Given the slowness of reading Arabic texts, the present work aims to study the development of the visual span and its effects on reading speed in the Arabic-speaking context. Thirty-four subjects participated in the study. The trigram task and the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm were used to estimate visual span size and reading speed. In line with our initial assumptions, the results showed a significant effect of grade level on reading speed (F(2,31) = 30.93, p<0.001), visual span size (F(2,31) = 20.57, p<0.001). In good alignment with previous work, our results show that visual span size could explain around 40% of the reading speed variability. Interestingly, our analyses revealed a narrowing of visual span size in our Arabic sample. The results of study 2, suggest that the poor performance in the trigram task is due to poor visual attention capacities in our Arabic readers

Keywords

Visual span; visual attention; Crowding; Reading speed

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Behavioral Sciences

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