Speaking rate from proximal and distal contexts is used during word segmentation.

Validating and improving the correction of ocular artifacts in electro-encephalography

Eye movement strategies in face ethnicity categorization vs. face identification tasks

Eye and hand movement tracking has been proven to be a successful tool and is widely used to figure out characteristics of human cognition in language or visual processing (Just & Carpenter, 1976 Cognitive Psychology8441–480). Eye movement has proven to be a successful measure to figure out characteristics of human language and visual processing (Rayner, 1998 Psychological Bulletin124(3) 372–422). Recently, mouse tracking was used for social-cognition-like categorization of sex-atypical faces and studying spoken-language processes (Magnuson, 2005 PNAS102(28) 9995–9996; Spivey et al., 2005 PNAS102 10393–10398). Here, we present a framework that uses both eye gaze and hand movement simultaneously for analyzing the relation of them during memory retrieval. We tracked eye and mouse movements when the subject was watching a drama and playing a multimodal memory game (MMG), a cognitive task designed to investigate the recall memory mechanisms in watching video dramas (Zhang, 2009 AAAI 2009 Spring Symposium: Agents that Learn from Human Teachers 144–149). Experimental results show that eye tracking and mouse tracking provide complementary information about underlying cognitive processes. Also, we found some interesting patterns in eye-hand movement during multimodal memory recall.

Distal timing cues (specifically, the speech rate of sentences temporally removed from a point of ambiguity in speech) have been shown to weakly modulate segmental perception [i.e., the perception of basic speech sounds, like “p” and “b”; Newman and Sawusch (1996)] but strongly affect the perception of word boundaries [i.e., the perception of separation between words in fluent speech; Dilley and Pitt (2010)]. However, no study as of yet has directly compared the two classes of percept using identical manipulations. In this study, we will examine the role of distal timing cues to segmental perception and word segmentation using the same distal contexts (e.g., “The merchant sold Canadian oats/notes,” a word boundary distinction, or “The merchant sold Canadian coats/goats,” a voicing-based segmental distinction). Distal speech rate will be artificially slowed to an identical extent for both types of contrast. We predict that categorical perception leads distal context effects to be much stronger on word segmentation (“…Canadian oats/notes”) than on segmental perception (“…Canadian coats/goats”). This research may help bridge speech perception theories that have been developed for each class of percept, and further clarify the role of distal cues in speech perception.

The present study utilized a new experimental set-up synchronizing eye movements and head motion for investigating referential change occurring in a reading task. We examined the effects of a change in narrative perspective during reading on eye movements and head motion. Forty-four participants read texts on a digital tablet, and both participants' eye movements and head movements were recorded using eye tracker and motion capture. The results showed longer eye fixation duration, longer reading time and decreasing head motions when perspective changed. Recent studies have supported the dynamic engagement hypothesis suggesting that there is a fluctuation in cognitive engagement reflected by postural movements. Our findings on head movements seem to validate this hypothesis of a bodily engagement in reading. The results provided by our study showed that the novel methodology of eye and head movement recordings we used was proven to be informative in studying the reader's embodiment during reading.

Prosody is known to scaffold the learning of language, and thus understanding prosodic development is vital for language acquisition. The present study explored the unfolding prosody model of prosodic development (proposed in Frota’s et al. study in 2016) beyond early production data, to examine whether it predicted the development of early segmentation abilities. European Portuguese-learning infants aged between 5 and 17 months were tested in a series of word segmentation experiments. Developing prosodic structure was evidenced in word segmentation as proposed by the unfolding model: (i) a simple monosyllabic word shape crucially placed at a major prosodic edge was segmented first, before more complex word shapes under similar prosodic conditions; (ii) the segmentation of more complex words was easier at a major prosodic edge than in phrase-medial position; and (iii) the segmentation of complex words with an iambic pattern preceded the segmentation of words with a trochaic pattern. These findings demonstrated that word segmentation evolved with unfolding prosody, suggesting that the prosodic units developed in the unfolding process are used both as speech production planning units and to extract word-forms from continuous speech. Therefore, our study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying word segmentation, and to a better understanding of early prosodic development, a cornerstone of language acquisition.

In our natural environment, we interact with moving objects that are surrounded by richly textured, dynamic visual contexts. Yet most laboratory studies on vision and movement show visual objects in front of uniform gray backgrounds. Context effects on eye movements have been widely studied, but it is less well known how visual contexts affect hand movements. Here we ask whether eye and hand movements integrate motion signals from target and context similarly or differently, and whether context effects on eye and hand change over time. We developed a track-intercept task requiring participants to track the initial launch of a moving object ("ball") with smooth pursuit eye movements. The ball disappeared after a brief presentation, and participants had to intercept it in a designated "hit zone." In two experiments (n = 18 human observers each), the ball was shown in front of a uniform or a textured background that either was stationary or moved along with the target. Eye and hand movement latencies and speeds were similarly affected by the visual context, but eye and hand interception (eye position at time of interception, and hand interception timing error) did not differ significantly between context conditions. Eye and hand interception timing errors were strongly correlated on a trial-by-trial basis across all context conditions, highlighting the close relation between these responses in manual interception tasks. Our results indicate that visual contexts similarly affect eye and hand movements but that these effects may be short-lasting, affecting movement trajectories more than movement end points.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In a novel track-intercept paradigm, human observers tracked a briefly shown object moving across a textured, dynamic context and intercepted it with their finger after it had disappeared. Context motion significantly affected eye and hand movement latency and speed, but not interception accuracy; eye and hand position at interception were correlated on a trial-by-trial basis. Visual context effects may be short-lasting, affecting movement trajectories more than movement end points.

IntroductionThe use of eye tracking (ET) in mathematics education research has increased in recent years. Eye tracking is a promising research tool in the domain of functions, especially in graph interpretation. It promises to gain insights into learners’ approaches and ways of thinking. However, for the domain of functions and graph interpretation, it has not yet been investigated how eye-tracking data can be interpreted. In particular, it is not clear how eye movements may reflect students’ cognitive processes. Thus, in this study, we investigate in how far the eye-mind hypothesis (EMH), which states broadly that what the eye fixates is currently being processed, can be applied to this subdomain. This is particularly true for contextual graphs, whose data originate from real-world situations, and which are of central importance for the development of mathematical literacy. The aim of our research is to investigate how eye movements can be interpreted in the domain of functions, particularly in students’ interpretations of contextual graphs.MethodsWe conducted an exploratory case study with two university students: The students’ eye movements were recorded while they worked on graph interpretation tasks in three situational contexts at different question levels. Additionally, we conducted subsequent stimulated recall interviews (SRIs), in which the students recalled and reported their original thoughts while interpreting the graphs.ResultsWe found that the students’ eye movements were often related to students’ cognitive processes, even if indirectly at times, and there was only limited ambiguity in the interpretation of eye movements. However, we also found domain-specific as well as domain-general challenges in interpreting eye movements.DiscussionOur results suggest that ET has a high potential to gain insights into students’ graph interpretation processes. Furthermore, they point out what aspects, such as ambiguity and peripheral vision, need to be taken into consideration when investigating eye movements in the domain of functions.

The study investigates the reading patterns of dyslexic learners of Chinese through the lens of eye-tracking technology, focusing on the differences in cognitive processing when engaging with two types of Chinese characters: ideo-phonetic compounds and pictographs.Dyslexia, a specific learning disorder, significantly impacts reading abilities, leading to challenges in word recognition, spelling, and comprehension. The research aims to enhance understanding of how visual stimuli can aid dyslexic students in learning Chinese, a language characterized by its unique writing system.The study involved ten Italian university students, including six diagnosed with dyslexia, who participated in a 100-hour online Chinese language course. Eye movements were recorded using a Tobii Pro Spectrum eye tracker, allowing for an analysis of fixation patterns and durations as participants engaged with the characters. The research questions focused on whether the type of character influenced the average number and duration of fixations, and whether there were significant differences in fixation patterns between dyslexic and non-dyslexic readers.Results indicated that both dyslexic and non-dyslexic participants exhibited longer fixation durations on pictographs compared to ideo-phonetic compounds, suggesting a more complex cognitive processing for pictographic characters. However, contrary to initial hypotheses, dyslexic participants did not demonstrate a greater number of fixations on ideo-phonetic compounds. The findings highlight the importance of understanding character structures and suggest that knowledge of basic character components may be more beneficial for dyslexic learners than visual aids alone.This research represents a significant step in exploring the intersection of dyslexia and Chinese language acquisition in Italy, providing empirical data that can inform educational strategies tailored for dyslexic students. The study concludes that while visual stimuli can support learning, a deeper understanding of character structures is crucial for improving reading comprehension among dyslexic learners.

Reading speed is dramatically reduced when readers cannot use their central vision. This is because low visual acuity and crowding negatively impact letter recognition in the periphery. In this study, we designed a new font (referred to as the Eido font) in order to reduce inter-letter similarity and consequently to increase peripheral letter recognition performance. We tested this font by running five experiments that compared the Eido font with the standard Courier font. Letter spacing and x-height were identical for the two monospaced fonts. Six normally-sighted subjects used exclusively their peripheral vision to run two aloud reading tasks (with eye movements), a letter recognition task (without eye movements), a word recognition task (without eye movements) and a lexical decision task. Results show that reading speed was not significantly different between the Eido and the Courier font when subjects had to read single sentences with a round simulated gaze-contingent central scotoma (10° diameter). In contrast, Eido significantly decreased perceptual errors in peripheral crowded letter recognition (-30% errors on average for letters briefly presented at 6° eccentricity) and in peripheral word recognition (-32% errors on average for words briefly presented at 6° eccentricity).

Personal calibration is a procedure which offsets the impact of personal differences on gaze tracking performance. During the calibration, the user has to look precisely at five to twenty markers that are shown the computer screen in succession. While the calibration marker is displayed on the screen, the user should gaze at the marker without eye movement until it disappears. This is a troublesome and wearying task. If she doesn’t look at the exact position of the marker, or if there is any involuntary eye movement or eye blink, the result may contain gaze tracking error. The difficulty of calibration explodes when the number of calibration markers increases. Estimating human eye gaze without personal calibration is one of the most important goals in the field of gaze tracking technology. For researchers who want to capture the user’s eye movement by a gaze tracking system, it is well known that the high cost of traditional personal calibration procedures makes eye tracking studies difficult. For example, it is extremely difficult to observe a child’s eye movement because of the personal calibration barrier. Since infants cannot understand the observer’s instructions, personal calibration often fails. A lot of effort is needed to attract the children’s attention to the calibration markers to accomplish personal calibration. The problem of personal calibration is not limited to children. For example, it is difficult to measure the eye movements of a large number of subjects because calibration is so time consuming.

Chinese automatic word segmentation is the premise of Chinese information processing, which is widely used in Chinese full-text retrieval, Chinese automatic full-text translation, Chinese text-to-speech conversion (TTS) and other fields. A dictionary plays an important role in Chinese word segmentation. The advantages and disadvantages of the word segmentation mechanism directly affect the speed and efficiency of Chinese word segmentation. Therefore, we propose a deep learning method for Chinese word segmentation. First, a separable convolution bidirectional long and short-term memory condition random field word segmentation model with feature points containing dictionary features is constructed. The model parameters are obtained by training on the existing word segmentation corpus. Then, the software engineering field text is used as the small-scale word segmentation training corpus. The word segmentation model of general corpus is fine-tuned. The experimental results show that the transfer learning reduces the iteration times of the domain segmentation model. Meanwhile, compared with other Chinese word segmentation models, the proposed model can reduce the corpus labeling time in training process and realize the cross-domain transfer learning of word segmentation model.

Eye tracking accuracy is affected in individuals with vision and oculomotor deficits, impeding our ability to answer important scientific and clinical questions about these disorders. It is difficult to disambiguate decreases in eye movement accuracy and changes in accuracy of the eye tracking itself. We propose the EyeRobot-a low-cost, robotic oculomotor simulator capable of emulating healthy and compromised eye movements to provide ground truth assessment of eye tracker performance, and how different aspects of oculomotor deficits might affect tracking accuracy and performance. The device can operate with eccentric optical axes or large deviations between the eyes, as well as simulate oculomotor pathologies, such as large fixational instabilities. We find that our design can provide accurate eye movements for both central and eccentric viewing conditions, which can be tracked by using a head-mounted eye tracker, Pupil Core. As proof of concept, we examine the effects of eccentric fixation on calibration accuracy and find that Pupil Core's existing eye tracking algorithm is robust to large fixation offsets. In addition, we demonstrate that the EyeRobot can simulate realistic eye movements like saccades and smooth pursuit that can be tracked using video-based eye tracking. These tests suggest that the EyeRobot, an easy to build and flexible tool, can aid with eye tracking validation and future algorithm development in healthy and compromised vision.

The cerebellum plays a significant role in the maintenance of equilibrium and the coordination of head and eye movements. The cerebellum receives extensive information from visual, somesthetic, vestibular and auditory sensory systems, as well as from motor and nonmotor areas of the cerebral cortex. The cerebellum was more active during independent rather than coordinated eye and hand tracking. Performance when tracking with the hand alone was worse than in the coordinated eye and hand condition. Cerebellum was significantly activated in coordinated eye–hand tracking compared to isolated eye and hand movements. Patients with cerebellar disease, eye movements, limb movements, gait and speech all may be affected. Bulbar muscles may also be affected, numerous disturbances of oculomotor activity, including nystagmus. In cerebellar disease decreased tone in postural muscles, Hypotonia in occulomotor muscles results in difficulty in maintaining the gaze. Studies investigating the relationship between the cerebellum and eyesight were revised in this manuscript.

41. Application of eye tracking in neuroscience