Asymmetries in attention as revealed by fixations and saccades
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Date
2014-06-21
Authors
Thomas, Nicole A
Loetscher, Tobias
Nicholls, Michael Elmo Richard
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Verlag
Rights
http://www.springer.com/gp/open-access/authors-rights/self-archiving-policy/2124
Rights Holder
© Springer International Publishing AG, Part of Springer Science+Business Media
Abstract
Neurologically normal individuals devote more attention to the left side; an asymmetry known as pseudoneglect, which reflects right hemisphere involvement in visuospatial attention. The role of eye movements in attentional asymmetries has received little consideration, particularly in terms of the greyscales task. Stimulus length, elevation, and presentation duration were manipulated, while monitoring eye movements during the greyscales task. Region of interest analyses compared time spent examining each quadrant of the stimulus. Further, saccades were examined in conjunction with fixations to gain an understanding of overall eye movement patterns. Scatterplots combining x-and y-coordinates illustrate mean eye position. Results demonstrated a comparison strategy was used, where the dark portions of each rectangle were fixated. Mean eye position was within the lower left quadrant. The left visual field was inspected most for the baseline condition. Interestingly, the lower visual field was examined most when duration, length, or elevation was manipulated. Eye movement patterns provide a possible explanation for why correlations are y not observed between visuospatial tasks. Different strategies, based on specific-task demands, are likely to be used, which in turn, engage separate aspects of visuospatial attention.
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(MF 8 Dec 2015)
Keywords
Psychology, Attention, Eye tracking
Citation
Thomas, N.A., Loetscher, T. and Nicholls, M.E.R., 2014. Asymmetries in attention as revealed by fixations and saccades. Experimental Brain Research. 232(10), 3253-3267.