Return sweeps eye movements during reading in normal ageing: perceptual and language interactions

The Department of Psychology is offering a 3 year fully-funded (matched funding from Microsoft and BU) PhD with associated teaching responsibilities. The studentship is for a project examining the eye movement behaviour of older adults when they read.
Project background:
More people are living longer than ever before. The ability to read efficiently for enjoyment, and for information acquisition is easy to take for granted. However, elderly readers may struggle to read textual displays designed for younger people. By exploring the various cognitive processes involved with reading and how they change during normal aging, more efficient design choices can be made for products and reading materials aimed at the elderly.
Return sweep eye movements (saccades) are the largest saccades readers typically make—they move the reader’s point of gaze from the end of one line of text to the beginning of the next—but have been largely ignored by reading research until recently. Therefore, little is known about the cognitive processes underlying the targeting and execution of these eye-movements.
This PhD studentship will examine cognitive processes related to return-sweeps in older readers and the influence they may have on reading performance and comprehension. The project will collect eye movement data from older adults who are experiencing normal cognitive aging. Additionally, measures of reading / spelling ability as well as visual acuity will be collected to see how these relate reading performance and oculomotor control. In particular, we will explore Keith Rayner’s risky reading strategy hypothesis (Rayner, Reichle, Stroud, Williams, & Pollatsek, 2006). This hypothesis posits that, older readers are more likely to guess upcoming words based on prior context more than younger readers are. However, they are also more likely to guess incorrectly than younger readers are. This results in older readers needing to look back to re-read more often. Because of this strategy older readers may be more negatively impacted by certain text layouts (e.g. if difficult to read words are placed just before or just after a line break).
This PhD studentship is part of a larger project on return-sweeps in reading which is partially funded by a research gift from Microsoft. This project includes another PhD studentship focussed on return-sweeps in children’s reading, as well as a post-doctoral researcher who will be developing and evaluating computational models of reading.
The successful student applicant will receive extensive training in the use of eye tracking equipment and reading research methodology as well as qualitative research methods. This will include training in research ethics, stimuli creation and linguistic control variables, data collection techniques, data processing techniques, statistical data analysis (including linear mixed modeling), and a comprehesive training on the theories and compuational models of the cognitive processes involved in reading. Furthermore, they will be working closely with the post-doctoral research assistant to develop innovative compuational models to interpret the empirical data. This will provide the student with a strong understanding of theory development and computer programming.
Informal inquiries can be made to Dr. Tim Slattery, [Email Address Removed].

How to apply:
Applications are made via our website using the Apply Online button below. If you have an enquiry about this project please contact us via the Email NOW button below, however your application will only be processed once you have submitted an application form as opposed to emailing your CV to us.
Candidates for funded PhD studentship must demonstrate outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 4 years.
The PhD Studentships are open to UK, EU and international students. Candidates for a PhD Studentship should demonstrate outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 4 years and must demonstrate:

• A 1st class honours degree and/or a relevant Master’s degree with distinction or equivalent.If English is not your first language you’ll need IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (with a minimum 6.0 in each component).
Additional Eligibility Criteria:
Candidates must have a strong knowledge of Cognitive Psychology, Linguistics, or a closely related discipline. Additionally, computer programming skills are desirable.

In addition to satisfying minimum entry criteria, BU will look closely at the qualities, skills and background of each candidate and what they can bring to their chosen research project in order to ensure successful completion.