ИСТИНА

Researchers converge in identifying oculomotor correlates, associated with greater performance: experienced subjects exhibit shorter fixations and longer saccades (Ashby, Rayner & Clifon, 2005), as well as greater stimulus coverage resulting from increased saccadic speed (Blinnikova, Izmalkova, 2016). Changes in oculomotor activity in various language-related tasks such as reading, lexical decision or word recognition can be associated both with belonging to a particular language group and with linguistic competence. In order to investigate the oculomotor patterns of successful performance in solving a lexical task in a foreign language, we compared samples of different linguistic backgrounds (Russian, Japanese, and Chinese speakers, n=64). The task consisted in searching for words through letter matrices, similar to a word search game. Efficiency and oculomotor indicators were registered with “SMI Gaze & Eye-tracking System”. In the group of Russian respondents, higher efficiency is associated to longer saccades (F (2, 366) = 3,65, p <0,05) with larger amplitudes (F (2, 366) = 3,19, p <0,05). Japanese subjects demonstrate a decrease in saccade duration saccades (F (2, 349) = 4.24, p <0.5) as their effectiveness increases. Chinese subjects demonstrating higher search effectiveness show a lower fixation count (F (2, 393) = 6.97, p <0.01) and frequency (F (2, 393) = 7.02, p <0.01) along with a smaller number (F (2, 393) = 7.72, p <0.01) and frequency (F (2, 393) = 7.68, p <0.01) of saccades. Thus, changes in oculomotor patterns associated with higher search efficiency are specific for each language group, depending on the requirements of task. Supported by RFBR project # 20-013-00674