Why eye gaze?
If we want to understand speech perception as a cognitive process rather than as a unitary phenomenon, we need some way to investigate listeners’ use of the sensory input to speech perception in real time. Reaction time studies, memory studies, and related tasks allow this to some degree, but what we really want is some measurable, behavioral response we can observe while presenting stimuli and that will show us how information is being integrated by the listener.
Since at least Eberhard et al. (1995), linguists have used eye tracking as a means of investigating listeners’ perceptual and language processing in real time. This initial, background, unit is from a course Kevin taught at the 2017 LSA Institute. It provides introductory background on how vision works and some of the hardware used to investigate it.
Slides from 2017 LSA Eye Tracking for Linguists (week 1)
References
Allopenna, Paul D., James S. Magnuson, and Michael K. Tanenhaus. 1998. “Tracking the Time Course of Spoken Word Recognition Using Eye Movements: Evidence for Continuous Mapping Models.” Journal of Memory and Language 38 (4): 419–39. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1997.2558.
Beddor, Patrice Speeter, Andries W. Coetzee, Will Styler, Kevin B. McGowan, and Julie E. Boland. 2018. “The Time Course of Individuals’ Perception of Coarticulatory Information Is Linked to Their Production: Implications for Sound Change.” Language 94 (4): 931–68. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2018.0051.
Beddor, Patrice Speeter, Kevin B. McGowan, Julie E. Boland, Andries W. Coetzee, and Anthony Brasher. 2013. “The Time Course of Perception of Coarticulation.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 133 (4): 2350–66.
Berends, Sanne M., Susanne M. Brouwer, and Simone A. Sprenger. 2016. “Eye-Tracking and the Visual World Paradigm.” In Designing Research on Bilingual Development. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11529-0_5.
Bissell, Marie. 2021. The Role of Exposure to Dialect-Specific Allophonic Variation in Lexical Processing.
Creel, Sarah C., and Melanie A. Tumlin. 2011. “On-Line Acoustic and Semantic Interpretation of Talker Information.” Journal of Memory and Language In Press, Corrected Proof: –. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2011.06.005.
D’Onofrio, Annette. 2015. “Persona-Based Information Shapes Linguistic Perception: Valley Girls and California Vowels.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 19 (2): 241–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12115.
Duchowski, Andrew T. 2017. Eye Tracking Methodology. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57883-5.
Eberhard, K. M., Sedivy J. C. Spivey-Knowlton, M.J., and M. K. Tanenhaus. 1995. “Eye-Movements as a Window into Spoken Language Comprehension in Natural Contexts.” Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 24: 409–36.
Hebert, Katherine P., Stephen D. Goldinger, and Stephen C. Walenchok. 2021. “Eye Movements and the Label Feedback Effect: Speaking Modulates Visual Search via Template Integrity.” Cognition 210 (May): 104587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104587.
Hilton, Katherine, and Sunwoo Jeong. 2019. “The Role of Context in Sociolinguistic Perception.” Linguistics Vanguard 5 (s1): 20180069. https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2018-0069.
Holmqvist, Kenneth, and Richard Andersson. 2017. Eye Tracking: A Comprehensive Guide to Methods, Paradigms, and Measures. 2nd edition. Lund Eye-Tracking Research Institute.
Huettig, Falk, Joost Rommers, and Antje S. Meyer. 2011. “Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Language Processing: A Review and Critical Evaluation.” Acta Psychologica 137 (2): 151–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.11.003.
Ito, Aine, and Pia Knoeferle. 2022. “Analysing Data from the Psycholinguistic Visual-World Paradigm: Comparison of Different Analysis Methods.” Behavior Research Methods 55 (7): 3461–93. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01969-3.
Kapnoula, Efthymia C., and Bob McMurray. 2021. “Idiosyncratic Use of Bottom-up and Top-down Information Leads to Differences in Speech Perception Flexibility: Converging Evidence from ERPs and Eye-Tracking.” Brain and Language 223 (December): 105031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.105031.
Kiefer, Peter, Ioannis Giannopoulos, Martin Raubal, and Andrew Duchowski. 2017. “Eye Tracking for Spatial Research: Cognition, Computation, Challenges.” Spatial Cognition & Computation 17 (1-2): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13875868.2016.1254634.
Kingston, John, Joshua Levy, Amanda Rysling, and Adrian Staub. 2016. “Eye Movement Evidence for an Immediate Ganong Effect.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 42 (12): 1969–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000269.
Klein, Christoph, and Ulrich Ettinger, eds. 2019. Eye Movement Research: An Introduction to Its Scientific Foundations and Applications. Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20085-5.
Kroell, Lisa M, and Martin Rolfs. 2022. “Foveal Vision Anticipates Defining Features of Eye Movement Targets.” eLife 11 (September): e78106. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78106.
Rayner, Keith. 1998. “Eye Movements in Reading and Information Processing: 20 Years of Research.” Psychological Bulletin 124 (3): 372–422.
Spivey, Michael J. 2025. “A Linking Hypothesis for Eyetracking and Mousetracking in the Visual World Paradigm.” Brain Research 1851 (March): 149477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149477.
Tanenhaus, M. K., and M. J. Spivey-Knowlton. 1996. “Eye-Tracking.” Language & Cognitive Processes 11: 583–88.
Tanenhaus, Michael K., and John C. Trueswell. 2006a. “Eye Movements and Spoken Language Comprehension.” In Handbook of Psycholinguistics. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012369374-7/50023-7.
Tanenhaus, Michael K., and John C. Trueswell. 2006b. “Eye Movements and Spoken Language Comprehension.” In Handbook of Psycholinguistics. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012369374-7/50023-7.
Vatikiotis-Bateson, Eric, Inge-Marie Eigsti, Sumio Yano, and Kevin G. Munhall. 1998. “Eye Movement of Perceivers During Audiovisual Speech Perception.” Perception & Psychophysics 60 (6): 926–40.