Extended tasks elicit complex eye movement patterns
Abstract
Visual perception is an inherently complex task, yet the bulk
of studies in the past were undertaken with subjects
performing relatively simple tasks under reduced laboratory
conditions. In the research reported here, we examined
subjects' oculomotor performance as they performed two
complex, extended tasks. In the first task, subjects built a
model rocket from a kit. In the second task, a wearable
eyetracker was used to monitor subjects as they walked to a
restroom, washed their hands, and returned to the starting
point. For the purposes of analysis, both tasks can be
broken down into smaller sub-tasks that are performed in
sequence.
Differences in eye movement patterns and high-level
strategies were observed in the model building and handwashing
tasks. Fixation durations recorded in the model
building tasks were significantly shorter than those
reported in simpler tasks. Performance in the hand-washing
task revealed look -ahead eye movements made to objects
well in advance of a subject's interaction with the object.
Often occurring in the middle of another task, they provide
overlapping temporal information about the environment,
providing a mechanism to produce our conscious visual
experience.