The role of inhibition in modulating the irrelevant speech effect in Chinese reading: evidence from eye-tracking

This study examined the role of inhibition in modulating the disruption of irrelevant speech in Chinese reading and explored the cognitive mechanism underlying the irrelevant speech effect (ISE). A 2 (inhibition: high vs. low) × 3 (sound condition: intelligible speech, unintelligible speech, silence) mixed design was employed. Participants read five paragraphs under each sound condition. Results showed that reading time, fixations, and regressions increased only in the intelligible speech condition, and a significant interaction was found between inhibition and sound condition. Intelligible speech significantly disrupted reading performance in the low-inhibition group, as reflected by longer total reading time, total fixation duration, and second-pass reading time, as well as more fixations and regressions. No such disruption was observed in the high-inhibition group. The findings demonstrate that intelligible speech produces significant semantic interference (supporting the interference-by-process account), and inhibition modulates this effect on reading (supporting the attentional capture and duplex-mechanism accounts).