Binocular Fixation Disparity in Single Word Displays

It has been claimed that the recognition of words displayed in isolation is affected by the precise location at which they are fixated. However, this putative role for fixation location has yet to be reconciled with the finding from reading research that binocular fixations are often misaligned and, therefore, more than 1 location in a word is often fixated simultaneously. The accuracy and alignment of binocular fixations during single word processing have not been assessed previously. To investigate this issue, words were presented for lexical decision at locations around a central fixation point. Eye-tracking data revealed that participants often fixated inaccurately and that fixations were frequently misaligned, but that this did not affect word recognition. The findings show that binocular fixation disparity is pervasive even in single word displays and a potential source of confound for research into effects of fixation location on word recognition.