Typographic emphasis and contrastive focus : an eye tracking study
Two eye tracking experiments investigated whether italicising contrastively focused words facilitates processing. In speech, pitch accents can mark focus, signalling that there exist alternatives to the marked element which are relevant to interpreting the expression. In writing, typographic emphasis (italics, bold, etc.) can be used in a similar manner, particularly to mark contrastive focus (asterisks delimit italicisation here): âWe expected Mark to bring *Mary* to dinner. However, when he arrived, he was with *Ellen*.â Previous studies have shown that processing is facilitated by congruent marking of information structure with pitch accents, and impeded by incongruent marking. This study sought similar effects for typographic emphasis. Eye movements of participants were tracked as they read short texts (dialogues in Experiment 1, narratives in Experiment 2) in which a contrastively focused target word was italicised, or not. Experiment 2 also manipulated contrast on the target word. To the authorâs knowledge, this is the first eye tracking study that investigates the interaction of these factors within continuous text. Incongruence, where a non-contrastive word was typographically emphasised, or
Norton, Christopher William
Typographic emphasis and contrastive focus : an eye tracking study. Two eye tracking experiments investigated whether italicising contrastively focused words facilitates processing. In speech, pitch accents can mark focus, signalling that there exist alternatives to the marked element which are relevant to interpreting the expression. In writing, typographic emphasis (italics, bold, etc.) can be used in a similar manner, particularly to mark contrastive focus (asterisks delimit italicisation here): âWe expected Mark to bring *Mary* to dinner. However, when he arrived, he was with *Ellen*.â Previous studies have shown that processing is facilitated by congruent marking of information structure with pitch accents, and impeded by incongruent marking. This study sought similar effects for typographic emphasis. Eye movements of participants were tracked as they read short texts (dialogues in Experiment 1, narratives in Experiment 2) in which a contrastively focused target word was italicised, or not. Experiment 2 also manipulated contrast on the target word. To the authorâs knowledge, this is the first eye tracking study that investigates the interaction of these factors within continuous text. Incongruence, where a non-contrastive word was typographically emphasised, or
emphasis contrastive focus eye track study eye track investigate_whether focus word facilitate processing speech pitch_accent mark focus signal exist alternative mark element relevant interpreting expression writing emphasis italic etc use similar manner particularly mark contrastive focus delimit expect mark bring mary however arrive previous_study show processing facilitate congruent mark information_structure pitch_accent impede marking study_seek similar effect emphasis eye_movement participant track read short text narratives focus target_word not also manipulate contrast target_word author knowledge first eye track study_investigates interaction_factor within continuous text non contrastive word emphasise