The Nature and Causes of Regressive Movements in Reading

From the time that Laval in 1879 called attention to the fact that the passage of the eye across a line of print is discontinuous, consisting of movement and pauses, psycholo gists have found the study of eye movements a provocative field. These movements are concerned with both a sensory process, per ception, and a thought process, assimilation of ideas. Consequently they offer a method of examining the activities of the mind through a motor manifestation which is automatic and reflex in character.