Skim reading: an adaptive strategy for reading on the web

It has been suggested that readers spend a great deal of time skim reading on the Web and that if readers skim read they reduce their comprehension of what they have read. There have been a number of studies exploring skim reading, but relatively little exists on the skim reading of hypertext and Webpages. In the experiment documented here, we utilised eye tracking methodology to explore how readers skim read hypertext and how hyperlinks affect reading behaviour. The results show that the readers read faster when they were skim reading and comprehension was reduced. However, the presence of hyperlinks seemed to assist the readers in picking out important information when skim reading. We suggest that readers engage in an adaptive information foraging strategy where they attempt to minimise comprehension loss while maintaining a high reading speed. Readers use hyperlinks as markers to suggest important information and use them to read through the text in an efficient and effective way. This suggests that skim reading may not be as damaging to comprehension when reading hypertext, but it does mean that the words we choose to hyperlink become very important to comprehension for those skim reading text on the Web

A new high-sensitive nephelometric method for assaying serum C-reactive protein based on phosphocholine interaction

Background: The measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations has been of interest as a classical marker of acute phase response; in addition, it has been of particular interest in cardiovascular risk stratification where high-sensitive measurements are necessary. Since CRP is able to bind phospholipids (mainly phosphocholine) in the presence of calcium ions, we explored the possibilities of developing a high-sensitive affordable nephelometric CRP assay based on diluted soy oil emulsions. Methods: Serum (or heparinized plasma) was mixed with Intralipid 20% in Tris-calcium buffer (pH 7.5). After 12 min of incubation at 37 degrees C, the CRP-phospholipid complexes were measured by nephelometry (840 nm) using a BN II nephelometer (Siemens). Results (n=97) were compared with those obtained using a typical immunoturbidimetric method (Roche). Results: Imprecision of the functional nephelometric assay was evaluated using three human serum pools. Within-run coefficients of variation (CVs) for level 1, 2 and 3 were 6.1%, 4.7% and 4.5%, respectively, and between-run CVs were 17.6%, 18.8% and 11.3%, respectively. Good agreement was obtained between the functional nephelometric and the immunoturbidimetric CRP assay in a concentration range from 0.1 mg/L to 50 mg/L (r=0.884). A logit-log calibration curve was made between 0.056 mg/L and 1.785 mg/L. The limit of detection was 0.5 mg/L. Conclusions: The functional nephelometric CRP assay allowed high-sensitive CRP determinations in serum and plasma. Since the assay is species independent, the described functional CRP assay could be used for veterinary purposes as well

Revolution in times of Eurosklerosis? The case of the first Lomé Convention

This article examines the dynamics leading to the fi rst Lomé Convention between the EC and the former colonies of its member states. In 1975 the EC and the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacifi c) countries managed to conclude a comprehensive trade and development agreement, despite the period of eursclerosis and economic crisis. This article aims to explain this apparent paradox. First, we examine why Lomé has been perceived as a revolutionary agreement. In this respect four features of the agreement are elaborated: (1) its broad geographical reach, (2) its wide scope, (3) the development friendly nature of its trade regime, and (4) the EC’s commitment to an equal partnership. Subsequently, we analyze the EC’s motives to include these distinguishing features in the Convention. Based on a research in the EU records and some private collections, this study comes to the conclusion that this ‘revolutionary’ agreement was not the result of ambitious ideas about development, but stemmed from historical relations and practical consideration. Lomé I was to a large extent the continuation of previous policies by France and the United Kingdom towards their former colonies, and these two EC member states have largely shaped the content and nature of the agreement through intergovernmental bargaining. However, in times of eurosclerosis it might be useful to affirm Europe as an ambitious international actor as a response to the internal legitimacy crisis

On measuring the impact of hyperlinks on reading

We increasingly spend a vast amount of time on the Web and much of that time is spent reading. One of the main differences between reading non-Web based text and reading on the Web is the presence of hyperlinks within the text, linking various related Web content and Web pages together. Some researchers and commentators have claimed that hyperlinks hinder reading because they are a distraction that may have a negative effect on the reader’s ability to process the text. However, very few controlled experiments have been conducted to verify these claims.In the experiments documented here we utilise eye tracking as a new methodology for examining how we read hyperlinked text. An eye tracker was used to observe participant’s behaviour while reading. The results showed that hyperlinked text did not generally have a negative impact upon reading behaviour. However, participants did show a tendency to re-read sentences that contained hyperlinked uncommon (low frequency) words. This suggests that hyperlinks highlight important information to the reader and the hyperlinks add additional content which for more difficult concepts, invites rereading of the preceding text

Lack of semantic parafoveal preview benefit in reading revisited

In contrast to earlier research, evidence for semantic preview benefit in reading has been reported by Hohenstein and Kliegl (Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40, 166–190, 2013) in an alphabetic writing system; they also implied that prior demonstrations of lack of a semantic preview benefit needed to be reexamined. In the present article, we report a rather direct replication of an experiment reported by Rayner, Balota, and Pollatsek (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473–483, 1986). Using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm, subjects read sentences that contained a target word (razor), but different preview words were initially presented in the sentence. The preview was identical to the target word (i.e., razor), semantically related to the target word (i.e., blade), semantically unrelated to the target word (i.e., sweet), or a visually similar nonword (i.e., razar). When the reader’s eyes crossed an invisible boundary location just to the left of the target word location, the preview changed to the target word. Like Rayner et al. (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473–483, 1986), we found that fixations on the target word were significantly shorter in the identical condition than in the unrelated condition, which did not differ from the semantically related condition; when an orthographically similar preview had been initially present in the sentence, fixations were shorter than when a semantically unrelated preview had been present. Thus, the present experiment replicates the earlier data reported by Rayner et al. (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473–483, 1986), indicating evidence for an orthographic preview benefit but a lack of semantic preview benefit in reading English

Reading sentences of uniform word length: evidence for the adaptation of the preferred saccade length during reading

In the current study we investigated the effect of removing word length variability within sentences on spatial aspects of eye movements during reading. Participants read sentences that were uniform in terms of word length, with each sentence consisting entirely of three, four, or five letter words, or a combination of these word lengths. Several interesting findings emerged. Adaptation of the preferred saccade length occurred for sentences with different uniform word length; participants would be more accurate at making short saccades while reading uniform sentences of three letter words, while they would be more accurate at making long saccades while reading uniform sentences of five letter words. Furthermore, word skipping was affected such that three and four letter words were more likely, and five letter words less likely, to be directly fixated in uniform compared to non-uniform sentences. It is argued that saccadic targeting during reading is highly adaptable and flexible towards the characteristics of the text currently being read, as opposed to the idea implemented in most current models of eye movement control during reading that readers develop a preference for making saccades of a certain length across a lifetime of experience with a given language<br/

Investigating eye movement acquisition and analysis technologies as a causal factor in differential prevalence of crossed and uncrossed fixation disparity during reading and dot scanning

Previous studies examining binocular coordination during reading have reported conflicting results in terms of the nature of disparity (e.g. Kliegl, Nuthmann, &amp; Engbert (Journal of Experimental Psychology General 135:12-35, 2006); Liversedge, White, Findlay, &amp; Rayner (Vision Research 46:2363-2374, 2006). One potential cause of this inconsistency is differences in acquisition devices and associated analysis technologies. We tested this by directly comparing binocular eye movement recordings made using SR Research EyeLink 1000 and the Fourward Technologies Inc. DPI binocular eye-tracking systems. Participants read sentences or scanned horizontal rows of dot strings; for each participant, half the data were recorded with the EyeLink, and the other half with the DPIs. The viewing conditions in both testing laboratories were set to be very similar. Monocular calibrations were used. The majority of fixations recorded using either system were aligned, although data from the EyeLink system showed greater disparity magnitudes. Critically, for unaligned fixations, the data from both systems showed a majority of uncrossed fixations. These results suggest that variability in previous reports of binocular fixation alignment is attributable to the specific viewing conditions associated with a particular experiment (variables such as luminance and viewing distance), rather than acquisition and analysis software and hardware.<br/

Cross-lingual neighborhood effects in generalized lexical decision and natural reading

The present study assessed intra- and cross-lingual neighborhood effects, using both a generalized lexical decision task and an analysis of a large-scale bilingual eye-tracking corpus (Cop, Dirix, Drieghe & Duyck, in press). Using new neighborhood density and frequency measures, the general lexical decision task yielded an inhibitory cross-lingual neighborhood density effect on reading times of second language words, replicating van Heuven, Dijkstra and Grainger (1998). Reaction times for native language words were not influenced by neighborhood density or frequency but error rates showed cross-lingual neighborhood effects depending on target word frequency. The large-scale eye movement corpus confirmed effects of cross-lingual neighborhood on natural reading, even though participants were reading a novel in a unilingual context. Especially second language reading and to a lesser extent native language reading were influenced by lexical candidates from the non-target language, although these effects in natural reading were largely facilitatory. These results offer strong and direct support for bilingual word recognition models that assume language-independent lexical access

Novel X-ray imaging technology enables significant patient dose reduction in interventional cardiology while maintaining diagnostic image quality

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the reduction in patient radiation dose during coronary angiography (CA) by a new X-ray technology, and to assess its impact on diagnostic image quality. Background: Recently, a novel X-ray imaging technology has become available for interventional cardiology, using advanced image processing and an optimized acquisition chain for radiation dose reduction. Methods: 70 adult patients were randomly assigned to a reference X-ray system or the novel X-ray system. Patient demographics were registered and exposure parameters were recorded for each radiation event. Clinical image quality was assessed for both patient groups. Results: With the same angiographic technique and a comparable patient population, the new imaging technology was associated with a 75% reduction in total kerma-area product (KAP) value (decrease from 47 Gycm(2) to 12 Gycm(2), P<0.001). Clinical image quality showed an equivalent detail and contrast for both imaging systems. On the other hand, the subjective appreciation of noise was more apparent in images of the new image processing system, acquired at lower doses, compared to the reference system. However, the higher noise content did not affect the overall image quality score, which was adequate for diagnosis in both systems. Conclusions: For the first time, we present a new X-ray imaging technology, combining advanced noise reduction algorithms and an optimized acquisition chain, which reduces patient radiation dose in CA drastically (75%), while maintaining diagnostic image quality. Use of this technology may further improve the radiation safety of cardiac angiography and interventions

Beyond isolated word recognition

In this commentary we concur with Frost’s view of the centrality of universal principles in models of word identification. However, we argue that other processes in sentence comprehension also fundamentally constrain the nature of written word identification. Furthermore, these processes appear to be universal. We, therefore, argue that universality in word identification should not be considered in isolation, but instead in the context of other linguistic processes that occur during normal reading