Spatial Coordinates and Reading: Comments on Monk (1985)

Abstract

Subjects are able to process some texts when they are presented, word-by-word, in a single physical location. As differential spatial information is not available in this task, Monk (1985a) argues that it need not be derived in normal reading. We suggest this conclusion is unwarranted, because subjects make large and very accurate regressive saccades to regions of previously fixated text. Without a representation of spatial coordinates this should not occur.