Eye-Tracking Technology

Eye movements and gaze direction have been utilized to make inferences about perception and cognition since the 1800s. The driving factor behind recording overt eye movements stem from the fundamental idea that one's gaze provides tremendous insight into the information processing that takes place early on during development. One of the key deficits seen in individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) involves eye gaze and social attention processing. The current chapter focuses on the use of eye-tracking technology with high-risk infants who are siblings of children diagnosed with ASD in order to highlight potential bio-behavioral markers that can inform the ascertainment of red flags and atypical behaviors associated with ASD within the first few years of development.

Tracking Children's Interactions with Traditional Text and Computer-Based Early Literacy Media

Early literacy skills have been the focus of considerable research for the past two decades. Many instructional interventions have been developed to help improve children's acquisition of key skills – among the most recent is an array of software programs. In this chapter we review the foundations for software design, instructional theories related to computer media-based instruction and an assessment of how children interact with the visual information provided in children's software. In particular, the chapter will highlight current research examining what features of software design impact children's ability to attend and learn from this media. Eye tracking technology has been used in research on early literary to better understand how learning occurs. This chapter identifies how eye-tracking technology can facilitate understanding of how young children interact with literacy tools in computer-mediated contexts.

Investigating Mindsets and Motivation through Eye Tracking and Other Physiological Measures

Although the influence of mindsets on motivation has been investigated using behavioral measures or verbal responses (e.g., Cimpian et al., 2007), only a handful of studies have used physiological measures, such as eye-tracking, to understand this process beyond explicit responses. Physiological measures are needed to understand thoughts and feelings that children are unable or unwilling to express verbally (e.g., Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). Physiological measures provide the opportunity to identify and quantify possible contributing causes to motivational mindsets (e.g., level of stress or anxiety) that can be compared across settings. Understanding the implicit thoughts and emotions that underlie observable behaviors (e.g., persistence) allow us to better understand mechanism.

Using Eye Movements to Study Reading Processes

This chapter provides an overview of eye movement-based reading measures and the types of inferences that may be drawn from each. We provide logistical advice about how to set up stimuli for eye tracking experiments, with different level processes (word, sentence, and discourse) and commonly employed measures of eye movements during reading in mind. We conclude with examples from our own research of studies of eye movements during reading at the word, sentence, and discourse levels, as well as some considerations for future research.

Eye-Tracking as a Research Methodology in Educational Context

A large body of educational research has been keen to the processes and outcomes of learning. Usually, clinical interviews, self-report measures or behavioral assessment procedures have been the most frequently used techniques to assess cognitive activities during learning. Equally, such approaches often suffer from validity issues. The eye-tracking methodology can be used to overcome some limitations in the study of cognitive processes linked to learning and performance. Therefore, this chapter aims to show how eye movement studies can be used to link ocular metrics to learning processes (e.g. language acquisition, reading, memory). The authors cover a topic that ranges from the paradigm shift in the theories of learning, through eye movement applications and measures, to the contribution of eye tracking methodology to investigate learning processes in educational settings.

How Revisions to Mathematical Visuals Affect Cognition

Mathematics curricula are frequently rich with visuals, but these visuals are often not designed for optimal use of students' limited cognitive resources. The authors of this study revised the visuals in a mathematics lesson based on instructional design principles. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of these revised visuals on students' cognitive load, cognitive processing, learning, and interest. Middle-school students (N = 62) read a lesson on early algebra with original or revised visuals while their eye movements were recorded. Students in the low prior knowledge group had less cognitive load and cognitive processing with the revised lesson than the original lesson. However, the reverse was true for students in the middle prior knowledge group. There were no effects of the revisions on learning. The findings are discussed in the context of the expertise reversal effect as well as the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and cognitive load theory.

The Use of Eye-gaze to Understand Multimedia Learning

There is great interest in how learners construct knowledge when presented with multimedia. Although information has been gained from evaluating recall performance across multimedia conditions, the use of eye-gaze indices for understanding multimedia learning is becoming increasingly popular. Within the multimedia learning literature, researchers have used duration, frequency and sequence of fixations as well as shifts in eye-gaze to identify differences regarding the selection, organization, and integration of information among learners. The current chapter provides a discussion of eye-gaze measures that have been employed in multimedia research and their related interpretations for the attentional process that takes place during the learning phase. In addition, considerations for using eye-gaze measures to understand multimedia learning are presented.

Eye Movement Behavior and Individual Differences in Word Identification During Reading

This chapter provides an overview of how the observation of eye movement behavior can be used to study how words are identified during reading in different populations. The chapter begins with a discussion of different eye movement behaviors, the perceptual span, and parafoveal processing. After providing the reader with a basic understanding of terms and methodology, the authors discuss how eye movements in reading change across the lifespan, individual differences in eye movement behavior in lower-skill and higher-skill adult readers, and eye movement patterns in special populations. This discussion highlights what is known about changes in eye movement behaviors from developing readers to older adult readers. It also includes a discussion of the role of eye movements in dyslexia and eye movement behavior in readers who are deaf.

Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Understand How Graphic Organizers Aid Student Learning

In the past three decades, several studies have found an achievement advantage for studying graphic organizers such as a hierarchy or matrix over studying linear displays such as a text or outline (e.g., Dye, 2000; Guri-Rosenblit, 1989; Kauffman & Kiewra, 2010). However, little was learned about how students study graphic organizers and the cognitive processes involved. Recently, the advancement of eye-tracking technology has provided a means to examine how students actually study graphic organizers and the types of processing that occur. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how eye-tracking technology can be used to understand how graphic organizers aid student learning. Specifically, this chapter introduces graphic organizer research and theory, reviews recent research that used eye-tracking technology to study graphic organizers, and offers future research directions.

Eye Tracking and Spoken Language Comprehension

Constructing a more precise and deeper understanding of how listeners, and particularly young children, comprehend spoken language is a primary focus for both psycholinguists and educators alike. This chapter highlights how, over the course of the past 20 years, eye tracking has become a crucial and widely used methodology to gain insight into online spoken language comprehension. We address how various eye-tracking paradigms have informed current theories of language comprehension across the processing stream, focusing on lexical discrimination, syntactic analysis, and pragmatic inferences. Additionally, this chapter aims to bridge the gap between psycholinguistic research and educational topics, such as how early linguistic experiences influence later educational outcomes and ways in which eye-tracking methods can provide additional insight into the language processing of children with developmental disorders.