Eye-tracking and conceptual combination

Processing conceptual combinations has been shown to be based on interactive activation of the concepts involved (Coolen, van Jaarsveld, & Schreuder, 1993). In this paper an approach for investigating conceptual combinations of nouns in an online way by using eye-tracking data is described. Words fixated In a compound-production task form a sequence of symbolic data that can be analyzed by a psychometric method called knowledge tracking (KT) that is based on Markov processes. Empirical evidence has been found that conceptual combinations assessed as medium acceptable attract eye movements more frequently than other ones (especially clearly acceptable or clearly unacceptable conceptual combinations).