Recent studies of eye movements in reading and other information processing tasks, such as music reading, typing, visual search, and scene perception, are reviewed. The major emphasis of the review is on reading as a specific example of cognitive processing. Basic topics discussed with respect to reading are (a) the characteristics of eye movements, (b) the perceptual span, (c) integration of information across saccades, (d) eye movement control, and (e) individual differences (including dyslexia). Similar topics are discussed with respect to the other tasks examined. The basic theme of the review is that eye movement data reflect moment-to-moment cognitive processes in the various tasks examined. Theoretical and practical considerations concerning the use of eye movement data are also discussed.

/pdf/eye-movements-in-reading-and-information-processing-20-years-3z5ay8hdwc.pdf

Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research.

https://www.socsci.uci.edu/maplab/personal/webdocs/KowlerAnderDosheretal1995.pdf

The Role ,of Attention in the Programming of Saccades

https://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/~creel/COGS1/Schedule%20of%20speakers_files/tinsfinal.pdf

Psychology and neurobiology of simple decisions

To describe phenomena that occur at different time scales, computational models of the brain necessarily must incorporate different levels of abstraction. We argue that at time scales of approximately one-third of a second, orienting movements of the body play a crucial role in cognition and form a useful computational level, termed the embodiment level. At this level, the constraints of the body determine the nature of cognitive operations, since the natural sequentiality of body movements can be matched to the natural computational economies of sequential decision systems. The way this is done is through a system of implicit reference termed deictic, whereby pointing movements are used to bind objects in the world to cognitive programs. We show how deictic bindings enable the solution of natural tasks and argue that one of the central features of cognition, working memory, can be related to moment-by-moment dispositions of body features such as eye movements and hand movements.

/pdf/deictic-codes-for-the-embodiment-of-cognition-3oclexjq5w.pdf

Deictic Codes for the Embodiment of Cognition

The E-Z Reader model of eye movement control in reading

Visuomotor fields of the superior colliculus: a quantitative model.

Metrics of saccade responses to visual double stimuli: Two different modes.

Latency dependence of colour-based target vs nontarget discrimination by the saccadic system

We describe an improved version of the double magnetic induction method for measuring eye movement, proposed by Reulen and Bakker. The idea behind the double magnetic method is to detect eye position indirectly by determining the strength of the induced secondary magnetic field of a short-circuited coil on the subject's eye caused by a primary magnetic field. A signal related to eye position is obtained from a detection coil, placed in front of the eye, without the need of connecting wires.

The Double Magnetic Induction Method for Measuring Eye Movement - Results in Monkey and Man

We have recorded the neural activity of single superior colliculus (SC) neurons in monkeys engaged in a saccadic target/nontarget discrimination task based on a colour cue. Since correct execution of this task probably depends on cortical signal processing, our experiments are of interest for getting a better insight in the problem of how cortical and subcortical signals, relevant for the visual guidance of saccades, are combined. The experiments were designed to distinguish between two extreme possibilities: 1) The crucial cortical signal affects the saccadic system at or above the level of the SC movement-related cells (serial hypothesis); 2) The colour-based target information bypasses the motor colliculus and affects the saccadic system at a level more downstream (bypass hypothesis). Under conditions where the saccadic system had to select a green target stimulus and to ignore the red nontarget spot, the saccade-related activity in SC visuomotor neurons remained as tightly coupled to the metrics of the saccade as it was in a simple spot-detection task. Since the saccade-related activity of these cells appeared to be based on colour information, we conclude that our data corroborate the serial hypothesis. The initial activity after stimulus onset appeared to be colour nonopponent in all neurons. In some cells the neural activity was quantitatively slightly different for the green target and the red nontarget. Since these minor differences were colour rather than motor response dependent, they were probably not part of the target-selection process. These data suggest the possibility that the decision as to which saccade should be made was largely imposed upon the SC visuomotor cells by an external source. We discuss various possibilities for the origin of the putative intervening signal which orders a saccade by causing a burst in the appropriate SC visuomotor neurons.

Fenno P. Ottes

Papers

Visuomotor fields of the superior colliculus: a quantitative model.

Metrics of saccade responses to visual double stimuli: Two different modes.

Latency dependence of colour-based target vs nontarget discrimination by the saccadic system

The Double Magnetic Induction Method for Measuring Eye Movement - Results in Monkey and Man

Collicular involvement in a saccadic colour discrimination task