Beginning readers do not effectively utilize peripheral information, that is, they do not selectively extract visual field information from the peripheral portion of the retina. In contrast to the beginning reader, the accomplished reader has learned to use the peripheral retina to provide crucial information as to the direction and place of subsequent eye fixations. That is, he employs the periphery to furnish guidance for the ensuing course of eye movement. Hochberg (1970a) has referred to this process as peripheral search guidance.

Looking in reading, like any other form of looking, also involves the processing of information in visual SIS by focal attention. In turn, the latter process must satisfy some cognitive demand. Thus the cognitive goal directs focal attention, a process Hochberg (1970a) has referred to as cognitive search guidance in reading. During the early stages of reading, considerable focal attention must be given to learning the key features that permit the child to discriminate letters or whole words. The direction of focal attention to such features is particularly noticeable in children who learn to read before school, as indicated by an analysis of sequences of looking and cognitive direction exhibited by "early-readers."

Durkin's (1966) study of children who learned to read early indicated that more than half showed an interest in printing prior to reading. For these children, the learning sequence moved from (a) scribbling and drawing, to (b) copying objects and letters of the alphabet, to (c) questions about spelling, to (d) ability to read. In terms of the present model, (a) is marking, which has the effect of producing a structured light display that can then be scanned in visual SIS; (b) is marking which involves the external representation of information in visual SIS in terms of structured light to produce a match between the form being copied and the copy. This type of activity stresses the analysis of features of forms to make sure they match, and (c) implies the recognition of words, and the understanding that words are composed of letter elements, again evidence for the focus of attention on letters (in both spoken and visual form).

An important factor with Durkin's early readers is that their looking was guided by self-imposed cognitive task demands. That is, they directed their focal attention in accord with a cognitive goal. Presumably, they looked at their markings to see whether they were having an effect (children who are permitted to make marking movements that do not leave a trace soon lose interest, E. Gibson, 1969, p. 446); they looked at letters and words to produce and check their copy; they looked at words after having spelled them to satisfy a cognitive question (what does some spoken word look like?).