Аннотация:Studying the influence of cultural and linguistic factors in cognitive activity is becoming increasingly relevant (Nisbett et al., 2003). It was previously shown that the writing system (alphabetic or hieroglyphic) and the direction of reading affect cognitive processing strategies (Reilly, Radach, 2012). In this study, we compared the eye movement indicators of Russian, Japanese and Chinese students when searching for meaningful English words among randomly organised letters of the Latin alphabet. We checked the assumption that linguistic experience (the native language and the writing system of this language) affects visual scanning strategies and the cognitive processing of verbal material.The study involved 64 respondents from Russia, China and Japan. The participants demonstrated a similar level of English proficiency (verbal English competence testing was conducted with Word Associates Test). The subjects were presented with 18 letter matrices. The procedure to develop stimulus material included the randomization of letters of the Latin alphabet within each matrix (15*15 letters each) in accordance with the frequency of letters in English. The matrices were filled with 10 words (from 4 to 9 letters), which could be arranged vertically or horizontally. Each of the matrices was presented on the monitor screen for 40 seconds. A calibration point was demonstrated between the presentations. The task of the subjects was to find the word and highlight it by clicking a computer mouse. Eye movements were recorded by the SMI Gaze & Eye-tracking System (SMIRED 250Hz). Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out through the SPSS package. The data of 475 trials were additionally analyzed on the parameters of saccadic angles and change in gaze direction.Word recognition results. The total number of words found and the number of horizontal words found is significantly different in the three language groups (F = 15.4, p <0.01; F = 14.9, p <0.01, respectively). In this indicator, Russian students exceeded Japanese and Chinese subjects. Since the level of knowledge of the language in all groups was approximately the same, such results can only be explained by the fact that the task itself was simpler for native speakers of Russian. Mastering the literal writing involves the skill of element-wise reconstruction of words, which was the key to the experimental task. Aquisition of hieroglyphic writing does not imply the development of such cognitive skills, thus, Chinese and Japanese students are less skilled in constructing letter strings and evaluating their lexical consistency. The number of vertical words found differs less significantly (F = 4.6, p <0.05). In this indicator, Japanese students exceeded both Russian and Chinese subjects. This is well explained by the fact that in Japanese writing, reading occurs along vertical guides.Scanning Patterns. The analysis of variance in changing the direction of eye movements during the search showed that students of the Japanese group change saccade directions in the range of 90-135 ° (F = 17.02, p <0.001) more often than others. Thus, saccades of return directions are most characteristic of this group of subjects. At the same time, participants in the group of Russian students are much more likely to demonstrate translational saccades in the range of 0-45 ° (F = 12.58, p <0.001). Representatives of a group of Chinese students show a trend towards the smallest number of return saccades in the range of 135-180 °. Perhaps this is due to the logographic writing of the Chinese language, where each unit is interpreted unambiguously and the need for returns is reduced, in contrast to Japanese writing, where the characters are used along with the syllabic writing. At the same time, the analysis of saccade directions showed that Japanese students use vertical transitions more often. Changing the direction of saccade in vertical orientation is most characteristic in this group, which may be due to the peculiarities of Japanese writing, where vertically oriented writing is considered a priority, in contrast to Chinese hieroglyphic writing and the Russian alphabet.The nature of cognitive processing. One of the significant characteristics of cognitive processing is the ratio of fixation duration and saccaddic amplitude in the patterns of eye movements (Velichkovsky et al., 2005). Significant differences between the groups were established for both of these parameters (F = 85.66, p <0.01; F = 42, p <0.01, respectively). At the same time, the Russian sample was characterized by high average fixation durations (m = 239.5ms) and low saccade amplitudes (m = 4.1o), while the opposite trend was recorded for the Japanese sample: lower average fixation durations (m = 201.6ms) and higher saccade amplitude values (m = 10.3o). The performance of Chinese students took the intermediate position. This suggests that Russian subjects used a method of cognitive processing based on focal attention. While Japanese speakers use a more ambient and gliding type of processing. Similar results can also be determined by the features of the subjects’native language writing.ConclusionThus, an analysis of the performance, saccade directions, and the nature of cognitive processing in searching for lexical units shows that the writing system of the native language affects the parameters of visual verbal stimuli processing. The basic characteristics of perceptual analysis are associated with early linguistic experience and are embedded in the architecture of other cognitive processes.