Perceptual span, visual span, and visual attention span: Three potential ways to quantify limits on visual processing during reading

• Published in: Visual cognition Vol. 26; no. 6; pp. 412 - 429
• Main Authors: Frey, Aline, Bosse, Marie-Line
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hove Routledge 03.07.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Attention; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Sciences; eye movements; Information processing; Language; Life Sciences; Neurons and Cognition; perceptual span; Reading; visual attention span; Visual perception; visual span; Visual system; Visual task performance; Eye-movements; Visual span; Visual attention span; Reading; Perceptual span
• ISSN: 1350-6285; 1464-0716
• DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2018.1472163

Many lines of evidence have revealed limitations of the human visual system, most notably that only a portion of available information is processed in a single glance. A degree of conceptual confusion has emerged, however, regarding the underlying concepts or mechanisms explaining limited visual processing in reading; perceptual span, visual span, or visual attention span. While the original definitions of these three concepts are clear and well-differentiated, they are routinely used inconsistently in the literature. The primary goal of the present review is to re-specify these three concepts in terms of what they correspond to and how they are determined. Further, we investigate whether these three spans refer to vision-related measurements and/or are based on general cognitive abilities. This review should lead to a better understanding of the involvement of visual functions in reading performance.