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.

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

Eye movements in reading and information processing.

This article considers methodological issues relevant to the study of differential crash involvement and reviews the findings of research in this area. Aspects of both driving skill and driving style appear to contribute to crash risk. Of the former, hazard-perception latency appears to play an important role, and this may be attributable to generalized abilities to identify visual targets in a complex background and to switch attention rapidly. Of the latter, faster driving speed and willingness to commit driving violations increase crash risk, and these factors may be explicable in terms of personality and antisocial motivation. The article concludes with an examination of the practical implications and of the ways in which research in this area might usefully proceed.

Behavioral-correlates of individual-differences in road-traffic crash risk - an examination of methods and findings

This paper posits the usefulness of mental shifts of scale and perspective in thinking and communicating about spatial relations, and describes two experimental techniques for researching such cognitive activities. The first example involves mentally expanding a hand-sized piece of entangled string, a knot, so that following a portion of the string into a crossing resembles the act of walking along a path and over a bridge. The second example involves transforming experience and conceptions of the large-scale environment to small-scale representations through the act of mapmaking, and then translating the map to depictions of street-level views. When used in the context of clinical research methodologies, these techniques can help to elicit multimodal expressions of conceived topological relationships and geographical detail, with particular attention to individual differences.

Spatial Cognition II

https://www.cis.rit.edu/pelz/scanpaths/papers/eye-movements-every-day-life-land-2006.pdf

Eye movements and the control of actions in everyday life

Six novice drivers drove a 2.1-mi. neighborhood route and a 4.3-mi. freeway route. Eye movements (including blinks and glances to the vehicle's mirrors and speedometer) were videotaped. The visual ...

/pdf/strategies-of-visual-search-by-novice-and-experienced-59ykze6f30.pdf

Strategies of Visual Search by Novice and Experienced Drivers

Eye movements of eight drivers were filmed as the drivers traveled on a local expressway at 50 mi. per hour. Search and scan patterns of the drivers became more compact and the center of location shifted down and to the left as the drivers became more familiar with the route. The center of the final pattern was located above the right road edge marker and slightly higher than the horizon. The task of car following appeared to induce greater visual workload as indicated by increased sampling rates of lane markers and greater visual travel distances to examine road signs and other traffic. The search and scan patterns verified that the peripheral area of the eye is used for monitoring lane position, other vehicles, and road signs so that the fovea may be directed for a closer examination when the situation demands it.

Mapping eye-movement patterns to the visual scene in driving: an exploratory study.

Study I investigated the effects of display type, amount of information presented, and display contrast on the visual mechanism during a visual search task. In the first phase, two subjects performed the visual task for four 3-h sessions. In the second phase, subjects were tested for two 6-h sessions. CRT usage for 3 h produced measurable visual fatigue in the eye movement and/or accommodation mechanism, as measured by increased durations to move from a near point and focus on a far point (and vice versa). Such visual fatigue was not present in the hard-copy visual search task.In a second study, subjects performed the visual task for two 4-h sessions. Two h of CRT usage produced measurable fatigue in the eye accommodation mechanism as well as an increased blink rate. Such visual fatigue was also present in the hard-copy task but to a lesser extent.In both studies, I-h breaks produced a marked reduction in visual fatigue indices.

Visual fatigue and cathode ray tube display terminals.

ALTHOUGH NOVICE DRIVERS LEARN TO CONTROL AUTOMOBILES WITH A FEW HOURS OF PRACTICE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR VISUAL INFORMATION SEEKING HABITS TAKES MANY MONTHS. FILMS OF NOVICE DRIVER EYE MOVEMENTS SUGGESTED THAT THERE ARE STAGES OF VISUAL LEARNING. TECHNIQUES NEED TO BE DEVELOPED TO TEACH DRIVERS WHERE TO LOOK BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY START DRIVING. /AUTHOR/

Visual Information Seeking of Novice Drivers

A divided-attention task was used to measure the ability of young and older drivers to obtain information from an in-vehicle display. Performance with the in-vehicle display was compared with performance with information superimposed on the driving scene. Ten young and 10 older drivers drove on a curvy road by using a fixed-based driving simulator. Older drivers were less accurate in obtaining information from the in-vehicle display, the average lane-position error of older drivers was greater, and older drivers spent more time driving outside their lanes. These results suggest that the use of in-vehicle displays, in their present configuration, is not appropriate for older drivers. When viewing information superimposed on the driving scene, older drivers were much more accurate and controlled their vehicles better. This indicates that the poor performance of older drivers with the in-vehicle display was due to vision-related changes, such as longer eye accommodation times, rather than cognitive processes.

Ronald R. Mourant

Papers

Strategies of Visual Search by Novice and Experienced Drivers

Mapping eye-movement patterns to the visual scene in driving: an exploratory study.

Visual fatigue and cathode ray tube display terminals.

Visual Information Seeking of Novice Drivers

Measuring divided-attention capability of young and older drivers