The Influence of Age on Eye Movements during Reading in Early Elementary School Children

Abstract

Purpose Eye movement disorders have been observed in many eye diseases, such as amblyopia and developmental dyslexia. The detection of pathological eye movement behaviour is difficult and requires more data for comparison. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of age, school level, gender, and mother tongue on eye movements while reading.

Methods One hundred and twenty-seven normally sighted children aged 7 – 12 were recruited from grades 2 – 5. The children were asked to read aloud two texts of The New International Reading Speed Text (IReST) of similar difficulty. Eye movements while reading were recorded by eyetracking technology (SMI RED 250, SensoMotoric Instruments, Teltow, Germany). The eye movement parameters were obtained from 118 children, and reading speed (words/minute), number of saccades, number of fixations, reading errors, and influence of school grade were analyzed.

Results We showed a significant influence of age in all eye movement parameters. The main finding of this study is that younger children performed more saccades, a higher number of fixations per word, and more reading errors while taking more time to read the text than older children in higher grades. In early grades, non-native German speakers read more slowly and performed more saccades and fixations, but no more differences were seen by grade 5. Overall, there was no significant influence of gender or school system on reading parameters.

Conclusion This study highlights the need for an age-appropriate normative database for eye movements during reading.

Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund Augenbewegungsstörungen wurden bei vielen Augenkrankheiten beobachtet, z. B. bei Amblyopie und Legasthenie. Der Nachweis eines pathologischen Augenbewegungsmusters ist schwierig und erfordert mehr Normwerte zum Vergleich. Daher war das Hauptziel dieser Studie, den Einfluss von Alter, Schulstufe, Geschlecht und Muttersprache auf die Augenbewegungen beim Lesen zu untersuchen.

Methode Insgesamt wurden 127 Primarschulkinder (2. – 5. Klasse) im Alter von 7 – 12 Jahren untersucht. Die Kinder wurden gebeten, zwei Texte des New International Reading Speed Texts (IReST) mit ähnlichem Schwierigkeitsgrad laut vorzulesen. Die Augenbewegungen während des Lesens wurden mit der Eye-Tracking-Technologie (SMI RED 250, SensoMotoric Instruments, Teltow, Deutschland) aufgezeichnet. Die Augenbewegungsparameter von 118 Kindern wurden analysiert in Bezug auf die Lesegeschwindigkeit (Wörter/Minute), Anzahl der Sakkaden und Fixationen, Lesefehler und Einfluss der Schulstufe.

Ergebnis Wir konnten einen signifikanten Einfluss des Alters auf alle Augenbewegungsparameter nachweisen. Das Hauptergebnis dieser Studie ist, dass jüngere Kinder mehr Sakkaden, eine höhere Anzahl von Fixationen pro Wort und mehr Lesefehler zeigten, sowie mehr Zeit zum Lesen des Textes benötigten als ältere Kinder in höheren Klassenstufen. In den ersten Klassenstufen lasen Nichtmuttersprachler langsamer und führten mehr Sakkaden und Fixationen aus, aber in der fünften Klasse wurden keine Unterschiede mehr festgestellt. Insgesamt zeigte sich kein signifikanter Einfluss des Geschlechts oder des Schulsystems auf die Leseparameter.

Diskussion Diese Studie veranschaulicht den Bedarf an altersgerechten normativen Daten zur Beurteilung von Augenbewegungen beim Lesen.

Key words

IReST - eye tracker - eye movements - reading

Schlüsselwörter

IReST - Eye Tracker - Augenbewegungen - Lesen

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