In this blog post, we will look at how to understand the reader’s comprehension and level of interest through eye movement analysis and its potential applications.
One way to reveal the thought process of readers while they are reading is through eye movement analysis. By tracking the eye movements of readers as they read, it is possible to understand how they are comprehending the text and where they are having difficulty. This can be useful in various fields, such as reading education, marketing, and psychology. This method analyzes the characteristics of eye movements, based on the assumption that the thought process is reflected in eye movements.
According to research focusing on eye movements, when reading, readers focus on words that they consider important or unfamiliar. When reading, readers’ eyes show fixation, where they stop on a word, and saccades, which occur between fixations. Saccades can be divided into short saccades, where the eyes move from one word to the next, and long saccades, where the eyes skip words. When fixation was observed, it meant that the meaning of the word was understood, but when jumps were observed, it meant that the meaning of the skipped word was not understood. When reading, the duration and frequency of fixation, as well as the length and direction of jumps, differed depending on the importance and familiarity of the words to the reader. The longer the fixation time, the more important or unfamiliar the word was to the reader. Such words were often read again after the reader had moved on, resulting in a high number of fixations, and the skipping in these cases was in the opposite direction to the direction of reading. When important or unfamiliar words appeared in succession, the eyes stopped on each word, resulting in short skips.
The pattern of eye movement changes as the reader’s reading ability develops. As reading ability develops, when reading text at the same level as before or rereading previously read text, the eyes do not fixate on each word, and the number of fixations and fixation time decrease, and long jumps over words are frequently observed. This is because as learning and reading experience accumulate, knowledge of text structure, vocabulary, and background knowledge increase. Another reason is that as the purpose of reading becomes clearer, readers become able to select important words in a text accurately. At this point, frequent jumps occur, such as jumps to recheck words that have already been read in order to understand the context, and jumps to search for words that will be read next.
Eye movement analysis is a particularly important tool for understanding the characteristics of different readers. For example, when comparing the eye movements of novice and experienced readers, novice readers fix their eyes on each word, while experienced readers read faster by making long jumps. This serves as a clear indicator of the difference in reading ability. In addition, readers’ eye movements are useful for determining how interested they are in a particular topic or text. When readers are interested in a section, they fixate on it for longer, make shorter jumps, and return to it more often.
For example, in the field of marketing, the effectiveness of advertisements can be evaluated by analyzing the eye movements of consumers. By identifying which parts of an advertisement consumers focus on the longest and which elements attract their attention, more effective advertising strategies can be developed. This provides important information on what designs and messages companies should use to capture the attention of consumers.
Such analysis can be used as an important resource for diagnosing and improving students’ reading skills in educational settings. For example, by observing students’ eye movements, it is possible to identify which parts they find difficult and which words they focus on. This allows for the development of customized teaching methods and the effective improvement of each student’s reading ability. Eye movement analysis can also be used in marketing to identify which parts of advertisements or web pages consumers pay attention to, enabling more efficient design and content placement.
In conclusion, eye movement analysis is an important tool for understanding readers’ thought processes and reading abilities, and can be used in various fields, such as personalized education and effective marketing strategy development. This analysis method is expected to undergo further research and development in the future, contributing to the resolution of various issues related to reading. Through eye movement analysis, we will open the way to a deeper understanding of readers and provide solutions tailored to their needs.
