C.6 Action-Related Fixation in Microsuturing, a New Gaze Behavior Metric to Differentiate the Level of Expertise

Background: Gaze behavior differences between expert and novice surgeons have been established in previous studies mainly from the general surgery field.Limited information is available about surgeon’s visual attention during microsurgery procedures where surgical microscope is used. Methods: 4 experts and 3 novices performed 37 independent sutures under the surgical microscope.Eye movements of surgeons and scene video of the surgical performance were recorded.Total suturing time and subtask times were compared between level of expertise.We defined three discrete surgical actions and examined eye gaze (fixation) directly related to each of these actions.Fixation duration (measured by total,pre-action,and post-action duration) were compared between expert and novice, over 3 subtasks (piercing, exiting and cutting) and between pre- and post-action phases. Results: Expert surgeons completed the suture with shorter total time than novices.On average,expert displayed longer fixation time than novice.Experts also maintained their visual engagement constantly over the 3 level of subtask in comparison to novices who required a longer fixation time for the challenging subtask (piercing).Experts use longer pre- than post-action fixation, and this pattern is distributed over all three subtasks.This gaze engagement strategy was not shown in novices. Conclusions: The action-related fixation can be used to evaluate microsurgeons’ level of expertise and in surgical education for gaze training.

This Is Your Brain on Autopilot: Neural Indices of Driver Workload and Engagement During Partial Vehicle Automation

Objective This research explores the effect of partial vehicle automation on neural indices of mental workload and visual engagement during on-road driving. Background There is concern that the introduction of automated technology in vehicles may lead to low driver stimulation and subsequent disengagement from the driving environment. Simulator-based studies have examined the effect of automation on a driver’s cognitive state, but it is unknown how the conclusions translate to on-road driving. Electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of frontal theta and parietal alpha can provide insight into a driver’s mental workload and visual engagement while driving under various conditions. Method EEG was recorded from 71 participants while driving on the roadway. We examined two age cohorts, on two different highway configurations, in four different vehicles, with partial vehicle automation both engaged and disengaged. Results Analysis of frontal theta and parietal alpha power revealed that there was no change in mental workload or visual engagement when driving manually compared with driving under partial vehicle automation. Conclusion Drivers new to the technology remained engaged with the driving environment when operating under partial vehicle automation. These findings suggest that the concern surrounding driver disengagement under vehicle automation may need to be tempered, at least for drivers new to the experience. Application These findings expand our understanding of the effects of partial vehicle automation on drivers’ cognitive states.

‘The Great Bowyer Bible’: Robert Bowyer and the Macklin Bible1

This article examines an iconic example of grangerizing: the Macklin Bible extra-illustrated in 45 volumes by London artist and bookseller Robert Bowyer (1758‐1834) in the first quarter of the nineteenth century (Bolton Libraries and Museums, Bolton, United Kingdom). The principal focus is on the Bowyer Bible as an example of an extra-illustrator’s close engagement with its source publication. The author argues that Bowyer’s practice responds not only to the Bible or the King James Bible, in general, but also to the Macklin Bible, in particular. The article discusses how the Bowyer Bible engages with the Macklin Bible specifically and how it reflects a broader range of concerns in its visual engagement with the Bible. It demonstrates that Bowyer’s curation of biblical visual material evidences both his professional interests as a connoisseur of prints and his personal interests in the visual culture of the Bible that reflect his own piety as well as contemporaneous developments in the study of the scriptures. Other matters discussed in the article are the original function of this Bible, as well as the extent to which it reflects and is distinctive from contemporaneous extra-illustrated books.

Sampling Engagement in Shared Reading Activities With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Generalizability Study

Researchers seeking to make valid conclusions about engagement for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) must first determine the reliability of estimates obtained across the conditions sampled. Working from that premise, we conducted a secondary data analysis of shared book readings between caregivers and their children with ASD, examining the contribution of measurement error on estimates of four states of child engagement. Caregivers read two different book types, each three times, with their children. With book type and occasion as measurement facets, we conducted a generalizability study and a series of decision studies. With the interaction of Persons × Book Type × Occasion contributing most measurement error for four engagement variables, we only found stable estimates for unengaged behaviors. For the variables of active engagement, visual engagement, and disruptive, four, five, and more than 10 book types, respectively, were necessary to obtain stable estimates across two occasions.

The Display of Medical Information: Content, Format, and Subjective Experience

Objectives: To address a gap in the literature by investigating the subjective experience of participants to the form and content of medical information displayed in a healthcare setting. Background: Artwork can enhance the experience of patients, but much less is known about how individuals react to displays of medical information in the form of posters or pamphlets, especially those about unsettling conditions (e.g., skin cancer). Methods: In a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design, researchers investigated the content of medical information (skin cancer vs. skin care) that was on display in a simulated exam room, whether the form was a pamphlet or a poster, and reason for the visit (routine annual skin check or evaluating a mole) on measures of subjective experience, including anxiety. Results: Viewing material about skin cancer produced greater anxiety and greater arousal than did viewing material about sunscreen, and given the choice of four images (pamphlet and poster for sunscreen, pamphlet and poster for skin cancer), the sunscreen poster was recommended to improve the patient’s experience and lower stress. In terms of display format, posters are judged to provide more visual engagement than are pamphlets. Conclusions: Exam rooms should offer multiple opportunities for visual engagement without images that produce anxiety. More research is needed to understand the subjective experience of the patient’s interaction with the content and format of medical information.

Cognitive Diagnosis Modelling Incorporating Response Times and Fixation Counts: Providing A More Comprehensive and Accurate Diagnosis of Problem-Solving

Problem-solving behavior consists of activities carried out by respondents, which reflect complex cognitive processes that are often systematically related to one another. To measure this variety in problem-solving behavior, biometric data including visual fixation counts (FCs), an essential eye-tracking indicator, can jointly be modeled with other types of variables reflecting different facets of problem-solving. To improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy in using such multimodal data for diagnosis of problem-solving, the present study proposes a multimodal joint cognitive diagnosis model, accounting for latent attributes, processing speed, and visual engagement by including three types of data simultaneously: response accuracy, response times, and FCs. The feasibility of the proposed model is examined by using a set of simulated data. Results indicate that utilizing FCs could improve diagnostic inferences regarding concentration, along with improving the accuracy of diagnostic classification. An empirical example is conducted to illustrate an application of the proposed model.

The impact of digital image-based features on users' emotions and online behaviours in the food industry

PurposeOnline images can convey sensory-based elements affecting digital users' emotions and digital engagement. The purpose of this study is to investigate which image-based features are more effective in conveying and stimulating particular emotions and engagement towards organizations operating in the food industry.Design/methodology/approachAn online experimental survey was implemented. Two image-based features, narrativity and dynamism were chosen. The stimuli comprise four images, one with high and one with low level of narrativity, and one with high and one with low dynamism, published by a food company on its official Instagram account. Food-identity, emotional appeals and digital visual engagement behaviours were measured. A total of 141 students between 19 and 25 years old of a European University completed the questionnaire. Data was analysed through SPSS software using t-test analysis.FindingsResults show that both narrativity and dynamism impact digital users' emotions and it was found to impact digital visual engagement attitude. Food involvement was measured in terms of food identity impact the effects of specific image-based features on emotions and visual engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on only two visual social semiotics features – narrativity and dynamism – and therefore, only partially captures the potentialities of images in digital communications.Practical implicationsThis study provides professionals with empirical evidence and insights for effectively planning a visual social media strategy.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the stream of research in social media communications by investigating the visual social semiotic features of images published online by a food company.

Reduced engagement of visual attention in children with autism spectrum disorder

A common example of social differences in autism spectrum disorder is poor modulation of reciprocal gaze, including reduced duration of eye contact and difficulty detecting the aim of another’s gaze. It remains unclear, however, whether such differences are specific to the social domain, or are instead indicative of broader alterations in processes of visual engagement and disengagement in autism spectrum disorder. To assess whether children with autism spectrum disorder experience altered engagement of visual attention, and whether such processes are specific to social stimuli, we implemented a gap-overlap eye-tracking paradigm consisting of both social and nonsocial images with children with autism spectrum disorder ( n = 35) and typical development ( n = 32). Children with autism spectrum disorder demonstrated a significantly reduced overall gap effect (i.e. difference in saccade latency to peripheral stimuli between overlap and gap trials) compared with the controls. This reduction spanned both social and nonsocial conditions. Our findings suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder experience alterations in general processes of engagement of visual attention, and that these alterations are not specific to the social domain, but do associate with cognitive functioning. Affected processes of visual engagement in autism spectrum disorder may contribute to features like poor reciprocal gaze, but social-specific symptoms of autism spectrum disorder likely originate from other subcortical processes or higher order cognition. Lay abstract Limited eye contact and difficulty tracking where others are looking are common in people with autism spectrum disorder. It is unclear, however, whether these are specifically social differences; it is possible that they are a result of broader alterations in engaging and disengaging visual attention. We used eye-tracking technology with children with autism spectrum disorder ( n = 35) and typical development ( n = 32), showing them both social and nonsocial imaging to test their visual attention. Children with autism spectrum disorder had a significant difference in how long it took them to look from an image in the middle to one on the side, depending on whether the middle image stayed on the screen or flashed off before the one on the side appeared. This difference was present for both social and nonsocial images, and was related to cognitive ability for only the children with autism spectrum disorder. Our findings suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder have differences in general processes of engaging visual attention that are not specifically social in nature, and that these processes may relate to cognitive ability in autism spectrum disorder. Affected processes of visual engagement in autism spectrum disorder may contribute to symptoms like reduced eye contact, but social-specific symptoms of autism spectrum disorder likely do not stem from reduced visual engagement alone.