Looking Back While Reading Ahead: Regressive Fixations and Temporal Anticipation in Music Sight-Reading

This study examined how regressive fixations relate to temporal anticipation and unfolding temporal dynamics during music sight-reading. Eye-movement, performance, and respiratory data were recorded from 28 flutists performing three scores differing in musical and metrical structure; performance recordings were MIDI-aligned with eye-movement and respiratory measures. Regressive fixations were defined as fixations following regressions toward previously viewed score notes. A participant-grouped random forest model explained 60% of the out-of-fold variance in regressive-fixation count, highlighting fixation count, mean fixation duration, and time-based eye–hand span as leading predictors. Mixed-effects analyses showed that time-based eye–hand span was the most consistent predictor, while performance duration and mean fixation duration provided additional information. Rhythmic accuracy moderated the relationship between temporal anticipation and regressive-fixation count, with a stronger positive association in more accurate performances (β = 1.062, 95% CI [0.282, 1.842], p = 0.008). This interaction remained significant when regressive-fixation count was modeled relative to performance duration and after controlling for mean fixation duration. An additional analysis found no evidence that shorter fixation durations attenuated the association between more regressions and longer relative performance duration. These findings suggest that regressive fixations are associated with temporal anticipation during music sight-reading and may inform cross-domain research on the role of regressive eye movements in reading comprehension.