Attention Distribution Mechanism In Chinese Reading

Reading perceptual span is an important basic problem in the field of cognitive processing of reading.Reading perceptual span is not fixed,but is influenced by other factors and has variability.The essence of reading perceptual span reflects the problem of attention distribution in the process of reading.There are three main theories about attention allocation in reading: primary eye movement Control theory,sequential attention transfer theory and attention gradient guidance theory.In order to verify the explanatory effect of the above-mentioned English-based theories on Chinese reading,two experiments were conducted in this study.The perceptual span of Chinese sentences under different perceptual difficulties was measured by moving-window paradigm,and the attention distribution theory was verified by the changing trend of the perceptual span of reading.In experiment 1,three fonts(Kai script,Xing script,cursive script)×3 word length(1-character word sentence,2-character word sentence,mixed sentence)×6 windows(Normal,L0R3,L1R3,L2R3,L2R2,L2R1)were designed,in which the fonts were variables between subjects;in experiment 2,two degrees of ambiguity(ambiguity,normal)×word length(1-characterword sentence,2-character word sentence,mixed sentence)×6 windows(Normal,L0R3,L2R1)were used.The mixed experimental design of L1R3,L2R3,L2R2 and L2R1,in which the degree of vague is the variable between subjects.The results of Experiment 1 show that The perceptual span of Kai script of 1-character-word sentence and 2-character-word sentence is L1R3;the perceptual span of Xing script 1-character-word sentence is L2R3;the perceptual span of Xing script 2-character-word sentence is greater than L2R3;and the perceptual span of mixed sentences in various fonts is greater than L2R3.Reading perceptual span is affected by perceived difficulty,but the way of influence is not the same,which is mainly regulated by the difficulty level of perceived difficulty and word length.In normal texts,word length does not affect the span of reading perception.Readers’ attention is distributed according to the character,but this way is regulated by the difficulty of perception.It shows that the influence of perceived difficulty on reading process is regulated by word length information,that is,the influence of bottom-up information on reading process is regulated by top-down information,and Chinese reading process is more in line with the prediction of interaction model.The results of Experiment 2 show that the reading perceptual span of normal words 1-character-word sentence and 2-character-word sentences is L1R2,and that of mixed sentences is L1R3.The reading perceptual span of vague text on each word length is greater than L2R3.The reading perceptual span is affected by the perceptual difficulty.With the increase of the perceptual difficulty,the reading perceptual span tends to increase gradually.Length information plays an important role in Chinese reading.The effect of reading in normal text is similar to that of English,but it shows the opposite trend in difficult perception.In normal texts,word length does not affect the span of reading perception.Readers’ attention is distributed according to the character,but this way is regulated by the difficulty of perception.It shows that the influence of perceived difficulty on reading process is regulated by word length information,that is,the influence of bottom-up information on reading process is regulated by top-down information,and Chinese reading process is more in line with the prediction of interaction model.Two experiments can be concluded as follows:(1)Reading perceptual span is affected by perceived difficulty,and its specific influence mode is regulated by difficulty level and word length information.The attention allocation of Chinese readers in the process of reading can be flexibly adjusted according to the difficulty of the text.(2)Length information plays an important role in Chinese reading.In normal text,the influence of reading is similar to that of English,but in difficult perception,it shows the opposite trend.(3)In normal texts,word length does not affect the span of reading perception.Readers’ attention is distributed according to the character,but this way is regulated by the difficulty of perception.(4)The influence of perceived difficulty on reading process is regulated by word length information,that is,the influence of bottom-up information on reading process is regulated by top-down information,and Chinese reading process is more in line with the prediction of interaction model.