Demareva, V. 1 , Polevaia, S. 2 , Serova, M. 1 & Polevaia, A. 1
1 Lobachevsky State University, Nizhni Novgorod, Russia
2 State Medical Academy, Nizhni Novgorod, Russia
The article describes how to use Eye Tracking (ET) and heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring methodologies to study the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension.A study to assess the effect of foreign language proficiency on Russian students? comprehension of texts is presented, comparing Russian and English languages in two task categories: reading and post-reading tasks. ET and the dynamics of HRV were recorded in working with 14 texts by 12 Russian students.
Results indicate significant difference in HRV spectral parameters in Russian and English context for students with poor English, however there is no significant difference reported for students with a high level of proficiency in English. The results show that linguistic tasks during ET in a foreign language require more energy and voltage of regulation systems than in a native language. Post-reading tasks require more energy recourses for all subjects in both languages. Significant ET differences were found for the variable of English language proficiency: saccade amplitude, fixation duration, and pupil diameter reflect subjective difficulty of cognitive linguistic tasks.
Consequently, the dynamic characteristics of cognitive process in text comprehension could be reflected by the measures of ET and HRV response.
Supported by RHF, N15-36-01364,N15-06-10894.