What is next in mobile-assisted reading? Insights from a decade of eye tracking research into cognitive processes

Abstract

Mobile-assisted reading research has seen a growing trend in the use of eye tracking to explore readers’ performance traditionally examined by offline accuracy measures. Through its ability to provide detailed records of online processing behaviours at a high temporal resolution, eye tracking offers new insights into real-time cognitive processes associated with mobile digital reading, which offline measures are unable to do. Despite its unique advantages, previous systematic reviews have mainly focused on offline performance to compare mobile-assisted versus traditional reading, with a lack of attention to online performance using eye tracking in the literature. As interest in and the availability of eye tracking continues to expand, a systematic review is timely to identify the issues that have already been addressed, if research gaps remain, and any warranted future work in this regard. In doing so, the current review aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of mobile-assisted reading research using eye tracking from 2010 to 2022, including article information, research focus, technology, and method. Additionally, this review critically discusses the limitations of previous research and proposes the avenues for future endeavours.