Readers with trait anxiety have poor reading efficiency: evidence from the perceptual span in Chinese reading

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of trait anxiety on perceptual span among Chinese readers and its impact on reading efficiency using the moving-window paradigm.We used the Eyelink 2000 eye-tracking device to record the eye movements of readers with trait anxiety as they read Chinese sentences. The experiment used a mixed experimental design with two participant groups (high and low trait anxiety) × four window levels (L1R2, L1R3, L1R4, and FL). The results demonstrated that readers with high trait anxiety had lower reading efficiency than those with low trait anxiety. Readers with high and low trait anxiety had perceptual spans of three and four Chinese characters to the right of the fixation point, respectively. Readers with high trait anxiety exhibited smaller perceptual spans in Chinese reading than those with low trait anxiety. This study demonstrated a correlation between low reading efficiency and small perceptual span among readers with high trait anxiety.

Keywords

• Trait anxiety
• Chinese reading
• eye movements
• perceptual span
• reading efficiency
• Language, Psychology of