Semantic parafoveal processing in natural reading: Insight from fixation‐related potentials & eye movements.

Prior research suggests that we may access the meaning of parafoveal words during reading. We explored how semantic‐plausibility parafoveal processing takes place in natural reading through the co‐registration of eye movements (EM) and fixation‐related potentials (FRPs), using the boundary paradigm. We replicated previous evidence of semantic parafoveal processing from highly controlled reading situations, extending their findings to more ecologically valid reading scenarios. Additionally, and exploring the time‐course of plausibility preview effects, we found distinct but complementary evidence from EM and FRPs measures. FRPs measures, showing a different trend than EM evidence, revealed that plausibility preview effects may be long‐lasting. We highlight the importance of a co‐registration set‐up in ecologically valid scenarios to disentangle the mechanisms related to semantic‐plausibility parafoveal processing. In a co‐registration set‐up during natural sentence reading, we provide fixation‐related potentials & eye movements evidence of semantic parafoveal processing. Our findings demonstrate the validity of traditional contributions from highly controlled reading paradigms, while highlighting the importance of a co‐registration set‐up in ecological situations to disentangle the mechanisms behind semantic parafoveal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]