Proceedings of the 7th International Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Individual Refresh Ability Modulates Irrelevant Speech Effect in Reading: Evidence from Eye Movements
Sanmei Wu, Liangsu Tian, Jingxin Wang, Min Chang, and Xin Shu
ABSTRACT:
The irrelevant speech effect refers to the phenomenon where auditory input, such as speech, that is unrelated to the task, reduces the efficiency of cognitive activities such as reading and memory. Refresh refers to the process of continuously changing the content of working memory based on newly presented information. In this process, old and irrelevant information are abandoned, whereas new information is stored. This study used two eye-movement tracking experiments including 2 refresh abilities (high/low) and 3 background sounds (meaningful background sound/meaningless background sound/silent) to investigate the moderating effect of individual refresh ability on irrelevant speech effects.The results found that the interaction between refresh ability and the meaningful background tone condition was significant, such as total reading time, gaze number, regression count, total fixation time, and regression-path duration. However, the interaction with the meaningless background tone condition was not significant.The results showed that: (1) refresh ability significantly regulates the irrelevant speech effect in reading, compared with individuals with high refresh ability. The meaningful background sounds have a greater negative impact on the reading of individuals with low refresh ability; (2) the regulating effect of refresh ability occurs in the late stage of vocabulary processing and semantic integration. The results supported the attentional capture theory and found that the irrelevant speech effect in Chinese reading is modulated by individual refresh ability, which mainly acts on semantic components in late reading processing.
keywords: irrelevant speech effect, individual refresh ability reading, eye-movements