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Researchers Find Eye Movement Can Affect Problem-solving, Cognition
September 25, 2007A pair of Beckman Institute researchers has discovered that by directing the eye movements of test subjects they were able to affect the participants' ability to solve a problem, demonstrating that eye movement is not just a function of cognition but can actually affect our cognitive processes.
Previous research (Grant and Spivey, 2003) has shown a relationship between eye movements and problem-solving but Psychology Professor Alejandro Lleras, a member of the Human Perception and Performance group, and Ph.D. candidate Laura Thomas have taken that work in a groundbreaking direction.
They report in the current (Aug., 2007) issue of Psychonomic Bulletin and Review that by occasionally guiding the eye movements of participants with a tracking task unrelated to the problem, they were able to "substantially affect their chances of problem-solving success" to the point where those groups outperformed every control group at solving the problem. These results, they conclude, demonstrate that "it is now clear that not only do eye movements reflect what we are thinking, they can also influence how we think."
The previous work of Grant and Spivey suggested a relationship between eye movements and problem-solving by showing that certain patterns of eye movement were reflected as participants got closer to solving the problem.
"We said we are going to do the opposite: rather than see what the relationship is between the eye movement and the solution right before you solve the problem, we said we're going to see if we can force people to think differently and, without conscious awareness, move their eyes in different ways and influence their thought patterns," Lleras said.
As reported in their paper, titled Moving eyes and moving thought: On the spatial compatibility between eye movements and cognition, the researchers were able to manipulate eye movement in order to guide participants to the problem's solution.
"So it's not just the case that people who are going to get the solution are moving their eyes in a given way, but that the people who might not have gotten the solution, if you have them move their eyes in that way, then they actually can solve it," Thomas said.
"Grant and Spivey found a link between eye movements and problem solving, but they could not directly show that the former can precede or affect the latter," Thomas added. "They couldn't go further than saying cognition affects eye movement pattern. They're very close to it but they cannot argue more than that. We went a step further and said eye movements are actually influencing cognition and this is the way to prove i
The tracking task used in the study - which had participants identify a digit among letters in different locations within the problem diagram - did not itself help them solve the problem. In fact, the researchers report, "many believed the tracking task was a purposeful distraction from the radiation problem."
"The theory that we're working with right now is the idea that when people do these sorts of movements it actually starts them on what's called a perceptual simulation," Lleras said. "The idea is that you basically use the same structures in the brain when you are thinking about doing something that you would actually use when you do that task. So we start them on this movement and that starts this simulation of how to solve the problem."
Lleras and Thomas have been invited to give a talk on the subject at the Association for Psychological Science meeting this spring.
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
The previous work of Grant and Spivey suggested a relationship between eye movements and problem-solving by showing that certain patterns of eye movement were reflected as participants got closer to solving the problem.
"We said we are going to do the opposite: rather than see what the relationship is between the eye movement and the solution right before you solve the problem, we said we're going to see if we can force people to think differently and, without conscious awareness, move their eyes in different ways and influence their thought patterns," Lleras said.
As reported in their paper, titled Moving eyes and moving thought: On the spatial compatibility between eye movements and cognition, the researchers were able to manipulate eye movement in order to guide participants to the problem's solution.
"So it's not just the case that people who are going to get the solution are moving their eyes in a given way, but that the people who might not have gotten the solution, if you have them move their eyes in that way, then they actually can solve it," Thomas said.
"Grant and Spivey found a link between eye movements and problem solving, but they could not directly show that the former can precede or affect the latter," Thomas added. "They couldn't go further than saying cognition affects eye movement pattern. They're very close to it but they cannot argue more than that. We went a step further and said eye movements are actually influencing cognition and this is the way to prove i
The tracking task used in the study - which had participants identify a digit among letters in different locations within the problem diagram - did not itself help them solve the problem. In fact, the researchers report, "many believed the tracking task was a purposeful distraction from the radiation problem."
"The theory that we're working with right now is the idea that when people do these sorts of movements it actually starts them on what's called a perceptual simulation," Lleras said. "The idea is that you basically use the same structures in the brain when you are thinking about doing something that you would actually use when you do that task. So we start them on this movement and that starts this simulation of how to solve the problem."
Lleras and Thomas have been invited to give a talk on the subject at the Association for Psychological Science meeting this spring.
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Eye Movement Current Events and Eye Movement News RSSAlcoholism's effect on sleep persists during long periods of sobriety
A study in the Oct.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that long-term alcoholism affects sleep even after long periods of abstinence, and the pattern of this effect is similar in both men and women.
New study suggests the brain predicts what eyes in motion will see
When the eyes move, objects in the line of sight suddenly jump to a different place on the retina, but the mind perceives the scene as stable and continuous.
First human gene implicated in regulating length of human sleep
Scientists have discovered the first gene involved in regulating the optimal length of human sleep, offering a window into a key aspect of slumber, an enigmatic phenomenon that is critical to human physical and mental health.
Sleep apnea occurring during REM sleep is significantly associated with type 2 diabetes
A multi-ethnic study in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine reports that there is a statistically significant relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) episodes occurring during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and type 2 diabetes.
Naps with rapid eye movement sleep increase receptiveness to positive emotion
Naps with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep refresh the brain's empathetic sensitivity for evaluating human emotions by decreasing a negative bias and amplifying recognition of positive emotions.
Rutgers Research: Discoveries Shed New Light on How the Brain Processes What the Eye Sees
Researchers at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience (CMBN) at Rutgers University in Newark have identified the need to develop a new framework for understanding "perceptual stability" and how we see the world with their discovery that visual input obtained during eye movements is being processed by the brain but blocked from awareness.
LSUHSC research shows fish oil protects against diseases like Parkinson's
Dr. Nicolas Bazan, Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Boyd Professor, and Ernest C. and Yvette C. Villere Chair of Retinal Degenerative Diseases Research at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, will present new research findings showing that an omega three fatty acid in the diet protects brain cells by preventing the misfolding of a protein resulting from a gene mutation in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's.
New way to analyze sleep disorders
Sleep is such an essential part of human existence that we spend about a third of our lives doing it -- some more successfully than others.
Baby's first dreams
After about seven months growing in the womb, a human fetus spends most of its time asleep. Its brain cycles back and forth between the frenzied activity of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the quiet resting state of non-REM sleep.
Queen's expands testing for fetal alcohol syndrome
Improved technology, partnerships and collaboration across two provinces have allowed Queen's University scientists to dramatically expand the use of eye-movement tests that help identify and assess children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
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