How reliably do eye parameters indicate internal vs. external attentional focus?

Eye behavior is increasingly used as indicator of internal vs. external focus of attention both in research and application. However, available findings are partly inconsistent, which might be attributed to the different nature of the employed types of internal and external cognition tasks. The present study, therefore, investigated how consistently different eye parameters respond to internal versus external attentional focus across three task modalities: numerical, verbal, and visuo-spatial. Three eye parameters robustly differentiated between internal and external attentional focus across all tasks. Blinks, pupil diameter variance and fixation disparity variance were consistently increased during internally directed attention. We also observed substantial attentional focus effects on other parameters (pupil diameter, fixation disparity, saccades and microsaccades), but they were moderated by task type. Single-trial analysis of our data using machine learning techniques further confirmed our results: Classifying the focus of attention by means of eye tracking works well across participants, but generalizing across tasks proves to be challenging. Based on the effects of task type on eye parameters, we discuss what eye parameters are best suited as indicators of internal vs. external attentional focus in different settings.

Examining Training Comprehension and External Cognition in Evaluations of Uncertainty Visualizations to Support Decision Making

Recent advances in uncertainty visualization research have focused not only on design features to support decision making, but also on challenges of evaluating the effectiveness of uncertainty visualizations, such as the degree to which individuals’ baseline task comprehension may alter their performance on experimental tasks regardless of a visualization’s effectiveness. Building on recent work, we investigated the effect of training comprehension on performance across varying representations of uncertainty and varying degrees of visualization interactivity using a simulated course of action selection task. Additionally, we explored how extended cognition theory can be applied to visualization evaluations by incorporating interface features that afford externalization of knowledge within the task environment. Our findings suggest that regardless of how uncertainty is represented, training comprehension leads to superior transfer, reduced workload, more accurate metacognitive judgments, and higher cognitive efficiency. Our findings also suggest that external cognition during decision making leads to improved accuracy and cognitive efficiency. The present study contributes to research on the design and evaluation of uncertainty visualizations. In addition, this study extends previous work by demonstrating how extended cognition theory can inform the design of human-machine interfaces to support decision making.

An External Cognition Framework for Visualizing Uncertainty in Support of Situation Awareness

This paper discusses an approach for the development of visualizations intended to support cognitive processes deemed fundamental in the maintenance of Situation Awareness under conditions of uncertainty. We integrate ideas on external cognition from the cognitive sciences with methods for interactive visualization to help cognitive engineering examine how visualizations, and interacting with them, alter cognitive processing and decision-making. From this, we illustrate how designers and researchers can study principled variations in visualizations of uncertainty drawing from extended and enactive cognition theory.

Novelty-Seeking, Fantasy, and Sensitization in Chronic Insomniacs

13 chronic primary insomniacs and a matched group of normal sleepers were studied in terms of their level of novelty-seeking, ability to fantasize, and cognitive rumination. All-night electroencephalographic patterns confirmed insomniac-control sleep differences. Chronic insomniacs differed from normal sleepers on a measure of cognitive activity as a defense pattern (Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Scale) but did not differ on measures of need for cognitive stimulation (Pearson's Internal and External Cognition Scales), ability to fantasize (Betts' imagery task), or preference for fantasy (Pearson's Internal and External Sensation Scales).