Parafoveal preview benefit effects in vertical alphabetic Reading

The present study examines the extent to which the cognitive processes underlying reading can adapt to accommodate changes in text orientation. For readers of English, processing times are slowed substantially when reading text in the non-conventional vertical direction, but little is known about the processes underlying this slowdown. Accordingly, participants read English text presented in the conventional horizontal orientation, or rotated 90° clockwise to create a vertical orientation. Lexical processing was explored with word frequency effects and parafoveal processing was measured through parafoveal preview benefit. Reading times were longer, and word frequency effects were larger for vertical, compared with horizotonally presented text, in line with findings for reading in unfamiliar formats. Crucially, while clear preview benefit effects were observed for horizontal reading, these effects were entirely absent during vertical reading. These results provide novel insight into perceptual flexibility in foveal and parafoveal processing during reading.