E–Z Reader: A cognitive-control, serial-attention model of eye-movement behavior during reading

The two core assumptions of the E–Z Reader model of eye-movement control during reading are that: (1) a preliminary stage of lexical access (i.e., the familiarity check) triggers the initiation of a saccadic program to move the eyes from one word to the next; and (2) attention is allocated serially, to one word at a time. This paper provides an overview of the model, some of the research that motivated its assumptions, and the various reading-related phenomena that the model can account for. This paper also summarizes how the model has been and is currently being used to guide empirical research.