School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
PLoS One. 2023 Jun 2;18(6):e0286801. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286801. eCollection 2023.
Cognitive processes can influence the characteristics of saccadic eye movements. Reading habits, including habitual reading direction, also affect cognitive and visuospatial processes, favouring attention to the side where reading begins. Few studies have investigated the effect of habitual reading direction on saccade directionality of low-cognitive-demand stimuli (such as dots). The current study examined horizontal prosaccade, antisaccade, and self-paced saccade in subjects with two primary habitual reading directions. We hypothesised that saccades responding to the stimuli in subject's habitual reading direction would show a longer prosaccade latency and lower antisaccade error rate (errors being a reflexive glance to a sudden-appearing target, rather than a saccade away from it). Sixteen young Chinese participants with primary habitual reading direction from left to right and sixteen young Arabic and Persian participants with primary habitual reading direction from right to left were recruited. All subjects spoke/read English as their second language. Subjects needed to look towards a 5°/10° target in the prosaccade task or look towards the mirror image location of the target in the antisaccade task and look between two 10° targets in the self-paced saccade task. Only Arabic and Persian participants showed a shorter and directional prosaccade latency towards 5° stimuli against their habitual reading direction. No significant effect of reading direction on antisaccade latency towards the correct directions was found. Chinese readers were found to generate significantly shorter prosaccade latencies and higher antisaccade directional errors compared with Arabic and Persian readers for stimuli appearing at their habitual reading side. The present pilot study provides insights into the effect of reading habits on saccadic eye movements of low-cognitive-demand stimuli and offers a platform for future studies to investigate the relationship between reading habits and eye movement behaviours.
认知过程可以影响眼跳的特征。阅读习惯，包括习惯性的阅读方向，也会影响认知和视空间过程，使注意力更容易集中在阅读开始的一侧。很少有研究调查习惯性阅读方向对低认知需求刺激（如点）的眼跳方向性的影响。本研究在两种主要习惯性阅读方向的被试中检查了水平性的促发性眼跳、反跳眼跳和自主控制的眼跳。我们假设，对被试习惯性阅读方向上的刺激做出反应的眼跳会表现出更长的促发性眼跳潜伏期和更低的反跳眼跳错误率（错误是指对突然出现的目标的反射性扫视，而不是远离目标的眼跳）。我们招募了 16 名有从左到右的主要习惯性阅读方向的年轻中国参与者和 16 名有从右到左的主要习惯性阅读方向的年轻阿拉伯语和波斯语参与者。所有的被试都将英语作为第二语言来读和说。在促发性眼跳任务中，被试需要看向 5°/10°的目标或在反跳眼跳任务中看向目标的镜像位置，在自主控制的眼跳任务中看向两个 10°的目标之间。只有阿拉伯语和波斯语参与者表现出对 5°刺激的更短和朝向习惯性阅读方向的促发性眼跳潜伏期。没有发现阅读方向对正确方向的反跳眼跳潜伏期有显著影响。与阿拉伯语和波斯语读者相比，中国读者在他们习惯性阅读的一侧出现刺激时，会产生明显更短的促发性眼跳潜伏期和更高的反跳眼跳方向性错误。本初步研究提供了关于阅读习惯对低认知需求刺激的眼跳运动的影响的见解，并为未来研究提供了一个平台，以调查阅读习惯与眼动行为之间的关系。
