Flow and quiet eye: the role of attentional control in flow experience

This report was designed to investigate the role of effective attention control in flow states, by developing an experimental approach to the study of flow. A challenge-skill balance manipulation was applied to self-paced netball and basketball shooting tasks, with point of gaze recorded through mobile eye tracking. Quiet eye was used to index optimal control of visual attention. While the experimental manipulation was found to have no effect, quiet eye was associated with the experience of flow. Furthermore, mediation revealed an indirect effect of quiet eye on performance through flow experience. This study provides initial evidence that flow may be preceded by changes in visual attention, suggesting that further investigation of visual attention may elucidate the cognitive mechanisms behind flow experience.     

从动作模仿到社会认知：自我-他人控制的作用

在社会互动中, 人们具有自动模仿他人动作的倾向。尽管这种自动模仿有利于个体理解他人动作的感受, 但有时也会与自身的动作意图产生冲突。因此我们需要将自身动作意图与他人动作进行区分并调控二者之间的冲突。这种能力被称为自我-他人控制(self-other control, SOC)。与动作模仿控制相同, 心理理论、观点采择和共情等更高级的社会认知同样涉及对自我和他人信息的加工。很多证据表明, SOC可能是一种领域普遍的(domain-general)加工机制, 即在动作模仿控制和其他社会认知中, 大脑对自我和他人双方信息的区分和冲突调控共用同一套SOC系统。最近一些研究发现, 相比于抑制自身优势反应的抑制控制(inhibitory control), SOC是社会认知中一个更为关键的影响因素, 抑制控制对社会认知的作用受到SOC的调节。此外, SOC的领域普遍性提示我们, 未来可以通过简单的动作模仿控制训练, 来为社会认知受损个体(如孤独症和述情障碍者)进行康复训练。     

Effect of narrowing the base of support on the gait,gaze and quiet eye of elite ballet dancers and controls

We determined the gaze and stepping behaviours of elite ballet dancers and controls as they walked normally and along progressively narrower 3-m lines (l0.0, 2.5 cm). The ballet dancers delayed the first step and then stepped more quickly through the approach area and onto the lines, which they exited more slowly than the controls, which stepped immediately but then slowed their gait to navigate the line, which they exited faster. Contrary to predictions, the ballet group did not step more precisely, perhaps due to the unique anatomical requirements of ballet dance and/or due to releasing the degrees of freedom under their feet as they fixated ahead more than the controls. The ballet group used significantly fewer fixations of longer duration, and their final quiet eye (QE) duration prior to stepping on the line was significantly longer (2,353.39 ms) than the controls (1,327.64 ms). The control group favoured a proximal gaze strategy allocating 73.33% of their QE fixations to the line/off the line and 26.66% to the exit/visual straight ahead (VSA), while the ballet group favoured a ‘look-ahead’ strategy allocating 55.49% of their QE fixations to the exit/VSA and 44.51% on the line/off the line. The results are discussed in the light of the development of expertise and the enhanced role of fixations and visual attention when more tasks become more constrained.     

Developmental changes in the control of saccadic eye movements in response to directional eye gaze and arrows

We investigated developmental differences in oculomotor control between 10-year-old children and adults using a central interference task. In this task, the colour of a fixation point instructed participants to saccade either to the left or to the right. These saccade directions were either congruent or incongruent with two types of distractor cue: either the direction of eye gaze of a centrally presented schematic face, or the direction of arrows. Children had greater difficulties inhibiting the distractor cues than did adults, which revealed itself in longer saccade latencies for saccades that were incongruent with the distractor cues as well as more errors on these incongruent trials than on congruent trials. Counter to our prediction, in terms of saccade latencies, both children and adults had greater difficulties inhibiting the arrow than the eye gaze distractors.     

Developmental changes in the control of saccadic eye movements in response to directional eye gaze and arrows

We investigated developmental differences in oculomotor control between 10-year-old children and adults using a central interference task. In this task, the colour of a fixation point instructed participants to saccade either to the left or to the right. These saccade directions were either congruent or incongruent with two types of distractor cue: either the direction of eye gaze of a centrally presented schematic face, or the direction of arrows. Children had greater difficulties inhibiting the distractor cues than did adults, which revealed itself in longer saccade latencies for saccades that were incongruent with the distractor cues as well as more errors on these incongruent trials than on congruent trials. Counter to our prediction, in terms of saccade latencies, both children and adults had greater difficulties inhibiting the arrow than the eye gaze distractors.     

A role for eyebrows in regulating the visibility of eye gaze direction

The human eye is unique amongst those of primates in having white sclera against which the dark iris is clearly visible. This high-contrast structure makes the gaze direction of a human potentially easily perceptible to others. For a social creature such as a human, the ability to perceive the direction of another's gaze may be very useful, since gaze usually signals attention. We report data showing that the accuracy of gaze deviation detection is independent of viewing distance up to a certain critical distance, beyond which it collapses. This is, of itself, surprising since most visual tasks are performed better at closer viewing distances. Our data also show that the critical distance, but not accuracy, is affected by the position of the eyebrows so that lowering the eyebrows reduces the critical distance. These findings show that mechanisms exist by which humans could expand or restrict the availability of their gaze direction to others. A way to regulate the availability of the gaze direction signal could be an advantage. We show that an interpretation of eyebrow function in these terms provides a novel explanation for several well-known eyebrow actions, including the eyebrow flash.     

A role for eyebrows in regulating the visibility of eye gaze direction

The human eye is unique amongst those of primates in having white sclera against which the dark iris is clearly visible. This high-contrast structure makes the gaze direction of a human potentially easily perceptible to others. For a social creature such as a human, the ability to perceive the direction of another's gaze may be very useful, since gaze usually signals attention. We report data showing that the accuracy of gaze deviation detection is independent of viewing distance up to a certain critical distance, beyond which it collapses. This is, of itself, surprising since most visual tasks are performed better at closer viewing distances. Our data also show that the critical distance, but not accuracy, is affected by the position of the eyebrows so that lowering the eyebrows reduces the critical distance. These findings show that mechanisms exist by which humans could expand or restrict the availability of their gaze direction to others. A way to regulate the availability of the gaze direction signal could be an advantage. We show that an interpretation of eyebrow function in these terms provides a novel explanation for several well-known eyebrow actions, including the eyebrow flash.     

Moving eyes and moving thought: On the spatial compatibility between eye movements and cognition

Grant and Spivey (2003) proposed that eye movement trajectories can influence spatial reasoning by way of an implicit eye-movement-to-cognition link. We tested this proposal and investigated the nature of this link by continuously monitoring eye movements and asking participants to perform a problem-solving task under free-viewing conditions while occasionally guiding their eye movements (via an unrelated tracking task), either in a pattern related to the problem’s solution or in unrelated patterns. Although participants reported that they were not aware of any relationship between the tracking task and the problem, those who moved their eyes in a pattern related to the problem’s solution were the most successful problem solvers. Our results support the existence of an implicit compatibility between spatial cognition and the eye movement patterns that people use to examine a scene.     

Conscious control over the content of unconscious cognition

Visual stimuli (primes) presented too briefly to be consciously identified can nevertheless affect responses to subsequent stimuli - an instance of unconscious cognition. There is a lively debate as to whether such priming effects originate from unconscious semantic processing of the primes or from reactivation of learned motor responses that conscious stimuli afford during preceding practice. In four experiments we demonstrate that unconscious stimuli owe their impact neither to automatic semantic categorization nor to memory traces of preceding stimulus-response episodes, but to their match with pre-specified cognitive action-trigger conditions. The intentional creation of such triggers allows actors to control the way unconscious stimuli bias their behaviour.     

The positive and negative of human expertise in gaze perception

Judging where others look is crucial for many social and cognitive functions. Past accounts of gaze perception emphasize geometrical cues from the seen eye. Human eyes have a unique morphology, with a large white surround (sclera) to the dark iris that may have evolved to enhance gaze processing. Here we show that the contrast polarity of seen eyes has a powerful influence on gaze perception. Adult observers are highly inaccurate in judging gaze direction for images of human eyes with negative contrast polarity (regardless of whether the surrounding face is positive or negative), even though negative images of eyes preserve the geometric properties of positives that are judged accurately. The detrimental effect of negative contrast polarity is much larger for gaze perception than for other directional judgements (e.g. judging which way a head is turned). These results suggest an 'expert' system for gaze perception, which always treats the darker region of a seen eye as the part that does the looking.     

The influence of quiet eye training and pressure on attention and visuo-motor control

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of an intervention designed to train effective visual attentional control (quiet eye-training) for a far aiming skill, and determine whether such training protected against attentional disruptions associated with performing under pressure. Sixteen novice participants wore a mobile eye-tracker to assess their visual attentional control (quiet eye) during the completion of 520 basketball free throws carried out over 8 days. They first performed 40 pre-test free throws and were randomly allocated into a quiet eye (QE) training or Control group (technical instruction only). Participants then performed 360 free throws during a training period and a further 120 test free throws under conditions designed to manipulate the level of anxiety experienced. The QE trained group maintained more effective visual attentional control and performed significantly better in the pressure test compared to the Control group, providing support for the efficacy of attentional training for visuo-motor skills.     

Mind,consciousness, and cognition: Phenomenology vs. cognitive science

I would like to thank Steven Crowell from Rice University (Philosophy Department) for helpful comments and suggestions about my discussion of Husserl and other phenomenologists, and Edouard Philippe, also from Rice University (Electrical Engineering Department), for offering me the opportunity to formulate my views on cognitive science and artificial intelligence.     

Plasticity of human spatial cognition: spatial language and cognition covary across cultures

The present paper explores cross-cultural variation in spatial cognition by comparing spatial reconstruction tasks by Dutch and Namibian elementary school children. These two communities differ in the way they predominantly express spatial relations in language. Four experiments investigate cognitive strategy preferences across different levels of task-complexity and instruction. Data show a correlation between dominant linguistic spatial frames of reference and performance patterns in non-linguistic spatial memory tasks. This correlation is shown to be stable across an increase of complexity in the spatial array. When instructed to use their respective non-habitual cognitive strategy, participants were not easily able to switch between strategies and their attempts to do so impaired their performance. These results indicate a difference not only in preference but also in competence and suggest that spatial language and non-linguistic preferences and competences in spatial cognition are systematically aligned across human populations.     

Spatial interference between gaze direction and gaze location: A study on the eye contact effect

Perceived gaze in faces is an important social cue that influences spatial orienting of attention. In three experiments, we examined whether the social relevance of gaze direction modulated spatial interference in response selection, using three different stimuli: faces, isolated eyes, and symbolic eyes (Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Each experiment employed a variant of the spatial Stroop paradigm in which face location and gaze direction were put into conflict. Results showed a reverse congruency effect between face location to the right or left of fixation and gaze direction only for stimuli with a social meaning to participants (Experiments 1 and 2). The opposite was observed for the nonsocial stimuli used in Experiment 3. Results are explained as facilitation in response to eye contact.     

Spatial interference between gaze direction and gaze location: a study on the eye contact effect

Perceived gaze in faces is an important social cue that influences spatial orienting of attention. In three experiments, we examined whether the social relevance of gaze direction modulated spatial interference in response selection, using three different stimuli: faces, isolated eyes, and symbolic eyes (Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Each experiment employed a variant of the spatial Stroop paradigm in which face location and gaze direction were put into conflict. Results showed a reverse congruency effect between face location to the right or left of fixation and gaze direction only for stimuli with a social meaning to participants (Experiments 1 and 2). The opposite was observed for the nonsocial stimuli used in Experiment 3. Results are explained as facilitation in response to eye contact.     

The role of eye movements in motor sequence learning

An experiment that utilized a 16-element movement sequence was designed to determine the impact of eye movements on sequence learning. The participants were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: a group that was permitted to use eye movements (FREE) and a second group (FIX) that was instructed to fixate on a marker during acquisition (ACQ). A retention test (RET) was designed to provide a measure of learning, and two transfer tests were designed to determine the extent to which eye movements influenced sequence learning. The results demonstrated that both groups decreased the response time to produce the sequence, but the participants in the FREE group performed the sequence more quickly than participants of the FIX group during the ACQ, RET and the two transfer tests. Furthermore, continuous visual control of response execution was reduced over the course of learning. The results of the transfer tests indicated that oculomotor information regarding the sequence can be stored in memory and enhances response production.     

Effects of gaze angle and extraretinal eye movement information on visual locomotion control

This study tested effects of gaze-movement angle and extraretinal eye movement information on performance in a locomotion control task. Subjects hovered in a virtual scene to maintain position against optically simulated gusts. Gaze angle was manipulated by varying the simulated camera pitch orientation. Availability of extraretinal information was manipulated via simulated-pursuit fixation. In Experiment 1, subjects performed better when the camera faced a location on the ground than when it pointed toward the horizon. Experiment 2 tested whether this gain was influenced by availability of appropriate eye movements. Subjects performed slightly better when the camera pointed at nearby than at distant terrain, both in displays that did and in displays that did not simulate pursuit fixation. This suggested that subjects could perform the task using geometric image transformations, with or without appropriate eye movements. Experiment 3 tested more rigorously the relative importance of gaze angle and extraretinal information over a greater range of camera orientations; although subjects could use image transformations alone to control position adequately with a distant point of regard, they required eye movements for optimal performance when viewing nearby terrain.     

Effect of low gravitational stimulation on the perception of target elevation: role of spatial expertise

To examine the interindividual differences in the judgment of the visually perceived eye level (VPEL-upright position) and of the visually perceived apparent zenith (VPAZ-supine position) when the subject is subjected to low gravitational-inertial force (GIF), we independently altered GIF in two different populations: control subjects and spatial experts. Subjects were instructed to set a luminous target to the eye level while they were in total darkness and motionless or undergoing low radial acceleration with respect to the threshold of the otolithic system (0.015-1.67 m/sec2 for the VPEL and 0.55-2.19 m/sec2 for the VPAZ, respectively). Results showed that (1) low GIFs, close to those met during daily life, induced an eye level lowering in the upright and supine positions for the control group, and (2) the spatial expertise modified the influence of low GIF. Whereas an oculogravic illusion was found for the control group, this phenomenon was absent (VPAZ) or weaker (VPEL) for the spatial experts. Thus, the relations that the subjects maintain with their spatial environment and the knowledge acquired through experience modify the processing of sensory information and the perceptive construction resulting from it. The interindividual differences in sensitivity to the oculogravic illusion are discussed in terms of sensory dominance and of a better efficiency in the use of the available sensory information.     

Coordinating cognition: the costs and benefits of shared gaze during collaborative search

Collaboration has its benefits, but coordination has its costs. We explored the potential for remotely located pairs of people to collaborate during visual search, using shared gaze and speech. Pairs of searchers wearing eyetrackers jointly performed an O-in-Qs search task alone, or in one of three collaboration conditions: shared gaze (with one searcher seeing a gaze-cursor indicating where the other was looking, and vice versa), shared-voice (by speaking to each other), and shared-gaze-plus-voice (by using both gaze-cursors and speech). Although collaborating pairs performed better than solitary searchers, search in the shared gaze condition was best of all: twice as fast and efficient as solitary search. People can successfully communicate and coordinate their searching labor using shared gaze alone. Strikingly, shared gaze search was even faster than shared-gaze-plus-voice search; speaking incurred substantial coordination costs. We conclude that shared gaze affords a highly efficient method of coordinating parallel activity in a time-critical spatial task.     

Motor expertise and performance in spatial tasks: A meta-analysis

The present study aimed to provide a summary of findings relevant to the influence of motor expertise on performance in spatial tasks and to examine potential moderators of this effect. Studies of relevance were those in which individuals involved in activities presumed to require motor expertise were compared to non-experts in such activities. A final set of 62 effect sizes from 33 samples was included in a multilevel meta-analysis. The results showed an overall advantage in favor of motor experts in spatial tasks (d = 0.38). However, the magnitude of that effect was moderated by expert type (athlete, open skills/ball sports, runner/cyclist, gymnast/dancers, musicians), stimulus type (2D, blocks, bodies, others), test category (mental rotation, spatial perception, spatial visualization), specific test (Mental Rotations Test, generic mental rotation, disembedding, rod-and-frame test, other), and publication status. These findings are discussed in the context of embodied cognition and the potential role of activities requiring motor expertise in promoting good spatial performance.