scholarly journals Does Cognitive Load Affect Eye Movements/Oculomotor Behavior in Natural Scenes?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Walter ◽  
Peter Bex
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Incorrect Response ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Oculomotor Behavior

Abstract Cognitive neuroscience researchers have identified relationships between cognitive load and eye movement behavior that are consistent with oculomotor biomarkers for neurological disorders. We develop an adaptive visual search paradigm that manipulates task difficulty and examine the effect of cognitive load on oculomotor behavior in healthy young adults. Participants (N=30) free-viewed a sequence of 100 natural scenes for 10 seconds each, while their eye movements were recorded. After each image, participants completed a 4 alternative forced choice task in which they selected a target object from the previously viewed scene, among 3 distracters of the same object type but from alternate scenes. Following two correct responses, the target object was selected from an image increasingly farther back (N-back) in the image stream; following an incorrect response, N decreased by 1. N-back thus quantifies and individualizes cognitive load. The results show that response latencies increased as N-back increased, and pupil diameter increased with N-back, before decreasing at very high N-back. These findings are consistent with previous studies and confirm that this paradigm was successful in actively engaging working memory, and successfully adapts task difficulty to individual subject’s skill levels. We hypothesized that oculomotor behavior would covary with cognitive load. However, there were no significant differences between the number or duration of fixations and saccades for high/low performing subjects, or between high/low performing trials for a given subject. Similarly, oculomotor behavior did not act as a predictor of correct/incorrect responses with increasing demand from the N-back task. Similarly, the proportion of each scene viewed was not related to N-back and was not a significant predictor of accuracy. These results suggest that cognitive load can be tracked with an adaptive visual search task, but that oculomotor strategies generally do not change as a result of greater cognitive demand in healthy adults.

scholarly journals Cognitive load influences oculomotor behavior in natural scenes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Walter ◽  
Peter Bex
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Incorrect Response ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Oculomotor Behavior

AbstractCognitive neuroscience researchers have identified relationships between cognitive load and eye movement behavior that are consistent with oculomotor biomarkers for neurological disorders. We develop an adaptive visual search paradigm that manipulates task difficulty and examine the effect of cognitive load on oculomotor behavior in healthy young adults. Participants (N = 30) free-viewed a sequence of 100 natural scenes for 10 s each, while their eye movements were recorded. After each image, participants completed a 4 alternative forced choice task in which they selected a target object from one of the previously viewed scenes, among 3 distracters of the same object type but from alternate scenes. Following two correct responses, the target object was selected from an image increasingly farther back (N-back) in the image stream; following an incorrect response, N decreased by 1. N-back thus quantifies and individualizes cognitive load. The results show that response latencies increased as N-back increased, and pupil diameter increased with N-back, before decreasing at very high N-back. These findings are consistent with previous studies and confirm that this paradigm was successful in actively engaging working memory, and successfully adapts task difficulty to individual subject’s skill levels. We hypothesized that oculomotor behavior would covary with cognitive load. We found that as cognitive load increased, there was a significant decrease in the number of fixations and saccades. Furthermore, the total duration of saccades decreased with the number of events, while the total duration of fixations remained constant, suggesting that as cognitive load increased, subjects made fewer, longer fixations. These results suggest that cognitive load can be tracked with an adaptive visual search task, and that oculomotor strategies are affected as a result of greater cognitive demand in healthy adults.

scholarly journals A cognitive load delays predictive eye movements similarly during L1 and L2 comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
AINE ITO ◽  
MARTIN CORLEY ◽  
MARTIN J. PICKERING
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Visual World ◽  
L1 And L2

We used the visual world eye-tracking paradigm to investigate the effects of cognitive load on predictive eye movements in L1 (Experiment 1) and L2 (Experiment 2) speakers. Participants listened to sentences whose verb was predictive or non-predictive towards one of four objects they were viewing. They then clicked on a mentioned object. Half the participants additionally performed a working memory task of remembering words. Both L1 and L2 speakers looked more at the target object predictively in predictable- than in non-predictable sentences when they performed the listen-and-click task only. However, this predictability effect was delayed in those who performed the concurrent memory task. This pattern of results was similar in L1 and L2 speakers. L1 and L2 speakers make predictions, but cognitive resources are required for making predictive eye movements. The findings are compatible with the claim that L2 speakers use the same mechanisms as L1 speakers to make predictions.

scholarly journals How Do Art Skills Influence Visual Search? – Eye Movements Analyzed With Hidden Markov Models

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Tallon ◽  
Mark W. Greenlee ◽  
Ernst Wagner ◽  
Katrin Rakoczy ◽  
Ulrich Frick
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Hidden Markov ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Membership Probability

The results of two experiments are analyzed to find out how artistic expertise influences visual search. Experiment I comprised survey data of 1,065 students on self-reported visual memory skills and their ability to find three targets in four images of artwork. Experiment II comprised eye movement data of 50 Visual Literacy (VL) experts and non-experts whose eye movements during visual search were analyzed for nine images of artwork as an external validation of the assessment tasks performed in Sample I. No time constraint was set for completion of the visual search task. A latent profile analysis revealed four typical solution patterns for the students in Sample I, including a mainstream group, a group that completes easy images fast and difficult images slowly, a fast and erroneous group, and a slow working student group, depending on task completion time and on the probability of finding all three targets. Eidetic memory, performance in art education and visual imagination as self-reported visual skills have significant impact on latent class membership probability. We present a hidden Markov model (HMM) approach to uncover underlying regions of attraction that result from visual search eye-movement behavior in Experiment II. VL experts and non-experts did not significantly differ in task time and number of targets found but they did differ in their visual search process: compared to non-experts, experts showed greater precision in fixating specific prime and target regions, assessed through hidden state fixation overlap. Exploratory analysis of HMMs revealed differences between experts and non-experts in image locations of attraction (HMM states). Experts seem to focus their attention on smaller image parts whereas non-experts used wider parts of the image during their search. Differences between experts and non-experts depend on the relative saliency of targets embedded in images. HMMs can determine the effect of expertise on exploratory eye movements executed during visual search tasks. Further research on HMMs and art expertise is required to confirm exploratory results.

The Effect of Scene Context on Visual Search in Real‐World Scenes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samia Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Real World ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Scene Context ◽  
Efficient Search ◽  
Object Attention ◽  
Study Participants

The present study examined the effect of scene context on guidance of attention during visual search in real‐world scenes. Prior research has demonstrated that when searching for an object, attention is usually guided to the region of a scene that most likely contains that target object. This study examined two possible mechanisms of attention that underlie efficient search: enhancement of attention (facilitation) and a deficiency of attention (inhibition). In this study, participants (N=20) were shown an object name and then required to search through scenes for the target while their eye movements were tracked. Scenes were divided into target‐relevant contextual regions (upper, middle, lower) and participants searched repeatedly in the same scene for different targets either in the same region or in different regions. Comparing repeated searches within the same scene across different regions, we expect to find that visual search is faster and more efficient (facilitation of attention) in regions of a scene where attention was previously deployed. At the same time, when searching across different regions, we expect searches to be slower and less efficient (inhibition of attention) because those regions were previously ignored. Results from this study help to better understand how mechanisms of visual attention operate within scene contexts during visual search. 

scholarly journals Effect of Contextual Guidance and Task Difficulty in Exploring Neural Timeline of Visual Search in Natural Scenes

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Tiasha Saha Roy ◽  
Arpita Saha Chowdhury ◽  
Sucheta Chakravarty ◽  
Koel Das
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
And Task

Eye Movements and Cognitive Strategies

1981 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 623-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cris W. Johnston ◽  
Francis J. Pirozzolo
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Incorrect Response ◽  
Reflection Method ◽  
Oculomotor Behavior ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Initial Fixation ◽  
Scan Pattern

Eye movements were recorded using an infra-red reflection method from two female subjects while they took the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The purpose of the study was to investigate the manner in which oculomotor behavior may characterize an individual's verbal-cognitive ability, and to study processing and evaluating visual information. Correct responses on the test were best associated with relatively high fixation density, i.e., frequency, for the chosen item compared to alternative selections. When the chosen item was an incorrect response die most predictive measure was that the chosen item received the longest duration of fixation. Less useful measures studied were mean duration of fixation and total time spent looking at each alternative (gaze time). Upon exposure of the test items, the initial fixation was on the left and the initial direction of eye movement was clockwise. Based on a sequential “scan pattern” analysis of location, frequency, and duration of fixation, other evidence of psycho-oculomotor strategies was not observed. It is suggested that a trade-off may exist between the various parameters of oculomotor behavior and that perhaps by some unique combination and analysis of selected measures it would be possible to further elucidate how eye movements reflect cognitive processes.

scholarly journals Eye movements in scene perception while listening to slow and fast music

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Franěk ◽  
Denis Šefara ◽  
Jan Petružálek ◽  
Roman Mlejnek ◽  
Leon Van Noorden
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Scene Perception ◽  
Visual Exploration ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Urban Scenes ◽  
Outdoor Scenes ◽  
Fast Tempo

To date, there is insufficient knowledge of how visual exploration of outdoor scenes may be influenced by the simultaneous processing of music. Eye movements during viewing various outdoor scenes while listening to music at either a slow or fast tempo or in silence were measured. Significantly shorter fixations were found for viewing urban scenes compared with natural scenes, but there was no interaction between the type of scene and the acoustic conditions. The results revealed shorter fixation durations in the silent control condition in the range 30 ms, compared to both music conditions but, in contrast to previous studies, these differences were non-significant. Moreover, we did not find differences in eye movements between music conditions with a slow or fast tempo. It is supposed that the type of musical stimuli, the specific tempo, the specific experimental procedure, and the engagement of participants in listening to background music while processing visual information may be important factors that influence attentional processes, which are manifested in eye-movement behavior. 

Attention and Entropy in Simulated Flight with Varying Cognitive Loads

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 489-495
Author(s):  
Tianjiao Lu ◽  
Zhenshan Lou ◽  
Feng Shao ◽  
Yuan Li ◽  
Xuqun You
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Situation Awareness ◽  
Search Strategies ◽  
Fixation Time ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Subject Experiment

INTRODUCTION: This study is conducted to observe the effects of cognitive load on the visual search and attention allocation strategies of pilots. Research on pilots’ visual search strategies can provide valuable information regarding attention distribution and transformation, as well as useful situation awareness (SA) predictions.METHODS: A total of 18 pilots performed flight tasks in a two-condition (high and low cognitive load) within-subject experiment to compare their flight performance and eye movement indicators. Eye movements were tracked during the flight mission by a portable eye-tracking device.RESULTS: Compared to the low cognitive load task, in the high cognitive load task, the subjects exhibited shorter average fixation times (M = 420.38, SD = 60.56), higher fixation frequencies (M = 2.27, SD = 0.30), and lower saccade frequencies (M = 2.7, SD = 0.31). Their flight performance was better during the low cognitive load task, as evidenced by the lower entropy (M = 0.11, SD = 0.03) of their eye movements. Analysis of fixation time percentages and fixation counts showed that the distribution of attention to each area of interest was adjusted dynamically over the course of the given task.DISCUSSION: Significant differences were observed in both fixation order and fixation frequency across the instrument array. When the cognitive load is high, the subjects used more efficient eye movement patterns and search strategies accompanying a higher level of SA.Lu T, Lou Z, Shao F, Li Y, You X. Attention and entropy in simulated flight with varying cognitive loads. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(6):489–495.

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