<b>Further investigation of the impact of foveal and parafoveal word frequency on parafoveal preview during Chinese reading</b>

Background: The foveal load effect is one of the most fundamental effects in reading and also one of the most controversial issues in recent years. In Chinese reading, it is still unclear whether the foveal load effects exist, as well as whether this effect is modulated by the parafoveal processing difficulty. Methods: The present study employed the boundary paradigm, manipulating three independent factors—foveal word frequency (high-frequency, low-frequency), parafoveal word frequency (high-frequency, low-frequency), and two types of preview (identical preview, pseudocharacter preview). Two-character words served as parafoveal words.Results: The results showed a significant interaction between foveal word frequency and preview type, indicating a reduction in preview benefit as the foveal load increases, and suggesting the presence of the foveal load effect. However, the three-way interaction was not significant, indicating that the parafoveal word frequency does not modulate the foveal load effect.Conclusion: The results revealed a reliable foveal load effect when using two-character words as the parafoveal words in Chinese reading. Furthermore, the parafoveal word frequency does not modulate the foveal load effect. These findings support the Chinese reading model.