Emojis elicit semantic parafoveal-on-foveal (PoF) effects during reading

• Published in: Visual cognition Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 151 - 161
• Main Authors: Sheridan, Heather, Barach, Eliza, Christofalos, Andriana L., Feldman, Laurie Beth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hove Routledge 07.02.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Coffee; emojis; Eye movements; Information processing; parafoveal processing; reading; semantic parafoveal-on-foveal effects
• ISSN: 1350-6285; 1464-0716
• DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2024.2398617

Semantic parafoveal-on-foveal (PoF) effects, in which the meaning of a parafoveal word influences the processing of the foveal word, indicate that readers engage in extensive parafoveal processing of upcoming words. To test if emojis elicit semantic PoF effects, we examined eye movements while participants read sentences containing a target word (e.g., coffee in "I enjoyed my tall coffee") that was followed either by a semantically congruent emoji (e.g., ; Alt text: "coffee emoji"), an incongruent emoji (e.g., ; Alt text: "beer mug emoji"), or no emoji. First-pass fixation durations were shorter on the foveal target word when the parafoveal emoji was semantically congruent rather than incongruent. Furthermore, the presence of an emoji (compared to no emoji) led to faster first-pass fixation durations for the preceding target word, which indicates that emojis can modulate the processing of preceding words.