CREATE Open Seminar: Beyond the Fovea: Word Recognition is Impeded by Adjacent Stimuli

One hallmark of skilled reading is the efficient retrieval and use of information from multiple words simultaneously. It has long been recognized that readers develop the ability to extract information from upcoming words parafoveally, prior to fixating them. Previewing upcoming words has predominantly been viewed as beneficial because it reduces the time the word needs to be fixated. However, despite the processing advantage gained from preview, there is little concern about how additional information may potentially interfere with and increase foveal processing. To address this gap, we employ a novel variant of the Visual World Paradigm (VWP) to investigate lexical activation in the presence of adjacent stimuli. Specifically, in a picture selection task, printed word targets are presented briefly with or without flankers before being masked.