Psychology and Aging · Apr 27, 2026

Age effects on the extraction and integration of parafoveal information in reading

By Veldre A, Wong R, Yu L et al.

Age-related declines in parafoveal processing observed in studies using the boundary paradigm have been interpreted as evidence that older adults extract less information from upcoming text. This study examined whether older adults' parafoveal processing deficits are specific to the extraction of information from upcoming text or whether they instead reflect reduced efficiency in trans-saccadic integration of parafoveal and foveal information. Eye movements were recorded from younger adults (Mage = 19.7 years) and older adults (Mage = 71.5 years) as they read sentences containing an unpredictable target word. The boundary paradigm was used to manipulate parafoveal previews, which were either contextually plausible or implausible and either preserved or masked target orthographic information. Older and younger readers showed comparable effects of preview plausibility on skipping and early fixation measures, indicating preserved extraction of semantic parafoveal information in older age. However, age-related reduction in both preview benefits and costs was observed for orthographic-based preview effects. The findings suggest that older adults show a specific deficit in trans-saccadic integration of parafoveal and foveal information during reading. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

doi.org/10.1037/pag0000992 Open access PubMed 42043419 Mechanisms