Evaluation of the SWIFT model using z-string scanning as an oculomotor control condition to normal reading: contribution to invited symposium "Recent developments in computational modelling of eye-movement control in reading", chaired by A. Nuthmann

One sustained controversy in research on eye-movement control in reading has been whether low-level oculomotor or moment-to-moment cognitive processes predominantly control the decisions about when and where to move the eyes. Here, we validate the SWIFT model of saccade generation using data from a z-string scanning experiment as an oculomotor control condition to normal reading. Key results like globally prolonged fixation durations in z-string scanning and the effect of string length on fixation durations were qualitatively reproduced by the model, yielding strong support for the model’s assumptions on visual processing and saccade generation. Furthermore, simulation results for patterns of regressive saccades in z-string scanning lend support to SWIFT’s concept of an evolving field of activations of words and/or z-strings.