Anticipatory eye movements in sensorimotor actions: on the role of guiding fixations during learning

Foerster, Rebecca M.; Schneider, Werner X.

doi:10.1007/s10339-015-0701-1

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Other studies have shown changes in the frequency and location of fixations during learning. Generally, participants tend to make fewer fixations but these are to more task-relevant locations with increasing practice of speeded tasks, such as reaching to sequentially presented targets [40,41], bimanual cup stacking [42], and transporting marbles with chopsticks [43]. An example of this can be seen in Figure 2A, which shows the fixations of all nine participants in a bimanual cup-stacking task, during the time-interval between completing the 10-cup pyramid and having rotated the two outer cups to downstack the pyramid, on days 1 and 14 of training.…”

Section: Eye Movements In Motor Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Use of Eye Movements for an Acting System

Brouwer

Flanagan

Spering

2021

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

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Section: Eye Movements In Motor Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Use of Eye Movements for an Acting System

Brouwer

Flanagan

Spering

2021

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

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“…Lastly, the length of the scanpath can describe how efficient participants are in covering the search area and provide an additional indicator of the effectiveness in gathering information. Taken together, these measures grant additional insights into basic neuro-cognitive functions [ 20 , 37 , 40 , 41 ] especially into visual selection processes and thus present a valuable source of complementary information when understanding performance in the TMT.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emphasizing speed or accuracy in an eye-tracking version of the Trail-Making-Test: Towards experimental diagnostics for decomposing executive functions

et al. 2022

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The Trail-Making-Test (TMT) is one of the most widely used neuropsychological tests for assessing executive functions, the brain functions underlying cognitively controlled thought and action. Obtaining a number of test scores at once, the TMT allows to characterize an assortment of executive functions efficiently. Critically, however, as most test scores are derived from test completion times, the scores only provide a summary measure of various cognitive control processes. To address this problem, we extended the TMT in two ways. First, using a computerized eye-tracking version of the TMT, we added specific eye movement measures that deliver a richer set of data with a higher degree of cognitive process specificity. Second, we included an experimental manipulation of a fundamental executive function, namely participants’ ability to emphasize speed or accuracy in task performance. Our study of healthy participants showed that eye movement measures differed between TMT conditions that are usually compared to assess the cognitive control process of alternating between task sets for action control. This demonstrates that eye movement measures are indeed sensitive to executive functions implicated in the TMT. Crucially, comparing performance under cognitive control sets of speed vs. accuracy emphasis revealed which test scores primarily varied due to this manipulation (e.g., trial duration, number of fixations), and which were still more sensitive to other differences between individuals (e.g., fixation duration, saccade amplitude). This provided an experimental construct validation of the test scores by distinguishing scores primarily reflecting the executive function of emphasizing speed vs. accuracy and those independent from it. In sum, both the inclusion of eye movement measures and of the experimental manipulation of executive functions in the TMT enabled a more specific interpretation of the TMT in terms of cognitive functions and mechanisms, which offers more precise diagnoses in clinical applications and basic research.

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“…During the fifth prechange block, participants performed on average 8.95 guiding, 0.87 checking, and 0.27 searching fixations per trial. Guiding the hand (here cursor) sequentially with approximately one fixation to each target on an effective path is a typical characteristic of LTM-based attentional selection for sensorimotor control (Foerster et al, 2011, 2012; Foerster and Schneider, 2015a,b). None of the dependent variables was significantly different across blocks 4 and 5.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For fine-grained analyses, further within-subject variables were sub-action (1–9), location (1–9), and fixation type (searching, guiding, and checking). Fixation types were defined according to their landing positions (Epelboim et al, 1995; Land and Tatler, 2009; Foerster and Schneider, 2015a,b): fixations on any upcoming target (except the current target) as searching, fixations on a current target as guiding, and fixations on any completed target as checking (interest area of 3.06°v.a. diameter).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Task-Irrelevant Expectation Violations in Sequential Manual Actions: Evidence for a “Check-after-Surprise” Mode of Visual Attention and Eye-Hand Decoupling

Foerster

2016

Front. Psychol.

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When performing sequential manual actions (e.g., cooking), visual information is prioritized according to the task determining where and when to attend, look, and act. In well-practiced sequential actions, long-term memory (LTM)-based expectations specify which action targets might be found where and when. We have previously demonstrated (Foerster and Schneider, 2015b) that violations of such expectations that are task-relevant (e.g., target location change) cause a regression from a memory-based mode of attentional selection to visual search. How might task-irrelevant expectation violations in such well-practiced sequential manual actions modify attentional selection? This question was investigated by a computerized version of the number-connection test. Participants clicked on nine spatially distributed numbered target circles in ascending order while eye movements were recorded as proxy for covert attention. Target’s visual features and locations stayed constant for 65 prechange-trials, allowing practicing the manual action sequence. Consecutively, a task-irrelevant expectation violation occurred and stayed for 20 change-trials. Specifically, action target number 4 appeared in a different font. In 15 reversion-trials, number 4 returned to the original font. During the first task-irrelevant change trial, manual clicking was slower and eye scanpaths were larger and contained more fixations. The additional fixations were mainly checking fixations on the changed target while acting on later targets. Whereas the eyes repeatedly revisited the task-irrelevant change, cursor-paths remained completely unaffected. Effects lasted for 2–3 change trials and did not reappear during reversion. In conclusion, an unexpected task-irrelevant change on a task-defining feature of a well-practiced manual sequence leads to eye-hand decoupling and a “check-after-surprise” mode of attentional selection.

show abstract

Anticipatory eye movements in sensorimotor actions: on the role of guiding fixations during learning

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Functional Use of Eye Movements for an Acting System

Functional Use of Eye Movements for an Acting System

Emphasizing speed or accuracy in an eye-tracking version of the Trail-Making-Test: Towards experimental diagnostics for decomposing executive functions

Task-Irrelevant Expectation Violations in Sequential Manual Actions: Evidence for a “Check-after-Surprise” Mode of Visual Attention and Eye-Hand Decoupling

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