In their model, Findlay & Walker propose that where and when the eyes move is determined by two relatively independent processing streams. Whereas both saccade direction and amplitude result from a low-level visual analysis of the peripheral visual stimulation, saccade latency results mainly from higher-level processes related to processing of the central information. In the present commentary, reading eye movement data are put forward as evidence against a strict autonomy of “Where” and “When” processing streams. First, saccade direction and amplitude (...) might be modified by high-level processes related to word identification. Second, the direction of a saccade directly affects its latency. (shrink)

This commentary focuses on the two basic assumptions of the E-Z Reader model, discussing the possibility that adjacent words in reading may be processed in parallel rather than serially, and presenting evidence against a cognitive control of eye guidance in reading.

On the background of recent concerns regarding online education in times of pandemic and a growing pedagogical divide in terms of unequal access to skilled teachers, we consider it timely to open a debate surrounding the use of social robots in education fulfilling a role that is anchored in the institution of pedagogs in Antiquity and which was somewhat left aside from contemporary inquiries: the pedagogical role of supporting and complementing the teaching activity. We develop our conceptual philosophical contribution to (...) this debate around the following question: Is the use of social robots in primary and lower secondary education an intervention that can contribute positively to bridging the pedagogical divide? We offer a moderate-positive answer to this question within the normative framework of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Namely, we argue that social robots in the form of collaborative robots (cobots) can be co-designed as pedagogical enabling devices to provide support to children for acquiring intellectual virtues necessary in the educational process and thus contribute to solving part of the pedagogical divide. (shrink)