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PloS One 2017Binocular vision refers to the integration of images in the two eyes for improved visual performance and depth perception. One aspect of binocular vision is the fixation...
Binocular vision refers to the integration of images in the two eyes for improved visual performance and depth perception. One aspect of binocular vision is the fixation disparity, which is a suboptimal condition in individuals with respect to binocular eye movement control and subsequent neural processing. The objective fixation disparity refers to the vergence angle between the visual axes, which is measured with eye trackers. Subjective fixation disparity is tested with two monocular nonius lines which indicate the physical nonius separation required for perceived alignment. Subjective and objective fixation disparity represent the different physiological mechanisms of motor and sensory fusion, but the precise relation between these two is still unclear. This study measures both types of fixation disparity at viewing distances of 40, 30, and 24 cm while observers fixated a central stationary fusion target. 20 young adult subjects with normal binocular vision were tested repeatedly to investigate individual differences. For heterophoria and subjective fixation disparity, this study replicated that the binocular system does not properly adjust to near targets: outward (exo) deviations typically increase as the viewing distance is shortened. This exo proximity effect-however-was not found for objective fixation disparity, which-on the average-was zero. But individuals can have reliable outward (exo) or inward (eso) vergence errors. Cases with eso objective fixation disparity tend to have less exo states of subjective fixation disparity and heterophoria. In summary, the two types of fixation disparity seem to respond in a different way when the viewing distance is shortened. Motor and sensory fusion-as reflected by objective and subjective fixation disparity-exhibit complex interactions that may differ between individuals (eso versus exo) and vary with viewing distance (far versus near vision).
Topics: Adult; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Models, Theoretical; Regression Analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Vision Disparity; Young Adult
PubMed: 28135308
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170190 -
Child Development Nov 2018Previous work suggests that key factors for replicability, a necessary feature for theory building, include statistical power and appropriate research planning. These... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Previous work suggests that key factors for replicability, a necessary feature for theory building, include statistical power and appropriate research planning. These factors are examined by analyzing a collection of 12 standardized meta-analyses on language development between birth and 5 years. With a median effect size of Cohen's d = .45 and typical sample size of 18 participants, most research is underpowered (range = 6%-99%; median = 44%); and calculating power based on seminal publications is not a suitable strategy. Method choice can be improved, as shown in analyses on exclusion rates and effect size as a function of method. The article ends with a discussion on how to increase replicability in both language acquisition studies specifically and developmental research more generally.
Topics: Child Language; Child, Preschool; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Research Design; Sample Size
PubMed: 29736962
DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13079 -
Perception May 2024To read this article, you have to constantly direct your gaze at the words on the page. If you go for a run instead, your gaze will be less constrained, so many factors...
To read this article, you have to constantly direct your gaze at the words on the page. If you go for a run instead, your gaze will be less constrained, so many factors could influence where you look. We show that you are likely to spend less time looking at the path just in front of you when running alone than when running with someone else, presumably because the presence of the other runner makes foot placement more critical.
Topics: Humans; Running; Adult; Male; Female; Young Adult; Fixation, Ocular
PubMed: 38409958
DOI: 10.1177/03010066241235112 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Mar 2009The 'eye contact effect' is the phenomenon that perceived eye contact with another human face modulates certain aspects of the concurrent and/or immediately following... (Review)
Review
The 'eye contact effect' is the phenomenon that perceived eye contact with another human face modulates certain aspects of the concurrent and/or immediately following cognitive processing. In addition, functional imaging studies in adults have revealed that eye contact can modulate activity in structures in the social brain network, and developmental studies show evidence for preferential orienting towards, and processing of, faces with direct gaze from early in life. We review different theories of the eye contact effect and advance a 'fast-track modulator' model. Specifically, we hypothesize that perceived eye contact is initially detected by a subcortical route, which then modulates the activation of the social brain as it processes the accompanying detailed sensory information.
Topics: Attention; Brain; Facial Expression; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Social Behavior; Social Perception; Visual Perception
PubMed: 19217822
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.11.009 -
Vision Research Oct 2006Eye movements during fixation were recorded in 55 normal subjects with ages ranging from 21 to 81 years. We analysed ocular fixation recordings using measurements of...
Eye movements during fixation were recorded in 55 normal subjects with ages ranging from 21 to 81 years. We analysed ocular fixation recordings using measurements of saccadic intrusion amplitudes and frequencies along with fixation periods and mean fixation displacement. Viewing conditions included monocular, binocular and presence or absence of a visual fixation target. Visual feedback reduced the saccadic intrusion amplitudes but had no effect on fixation periods or mean fixation displacements. Binocular viewing had no effect on saccadic intrusion amplitudes, fixation periods or mean fixation displacements. A decrease in fixation periods and an increase in the number of saccadic intrusions with age was observed. This approach could be a clinically useful tool to quantify ocular fixation in neurological disease.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychophysics; Saccades; Vision Disorders; Vision, Binocular
PubMed: 16889812
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2006.05.016 -
Scientific Reports May 2016Reading is a unique human ability that plays a pivotal role in the development and functioning of our modern society. However, its neural basis remains poorly understood...
Reading is a unique human ability that plays a pivotal role in the development and functioning of our modern society. However, its neural basis remains poorly understood since previous research was focused on reading words with fixed gaze. Here we developed a methodological framework for single-trial analysis of fixation onset-related EEG activity (FOREA) that enabled us to investigate visual information processing during natural reading. To reveal the effect of reading skills on orthographic processing during natural reading, we measured how altering the configural properties of the written text by modifying inter-letter spacing affects FOREA. We found that orthographic processing is reflected in FOREA in three consecutive time windows (120-175 ms, 230-265 ms, 345-380 ms after fixation onset) and the magnitude of FOREA effects in the two later time intervals showed a close association with the participants' reading speed: FOREA effects were larger in fast than in slow readers. Furthermore, these expertise-driven configural effects were clearly dissociable from the FOREA signatures of visual perceptual processes engaged to handle the increased crowding (155-220 ms) as a result of decreasing letter spacing. Our findings revealed that with increased reading skills orthographic processing becomes more sensitive to the configural properties of the written text.
Topics: Adult; Cognition; Electroencephalography; Female; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Reading
PubMed: 27231193
DOI: 10.1038/srep26902 -
European Journal of Sport Science 2014How we learn and refine motor skills in the most effective manner and how we prevent performance breakdown in pressurised or demanding circumstances are among the most... (Review)
Review
How we learn and refine motor skills in the most effective manner and how we prevent performance breakdown in pressurised or demanding circumstances are among the most important questions within the sport psychology and skill acquisition literature. The quiet eye (QE) has emerged as a characteristic of highly skilled perceptual and motor performance in visually guided motor tasks. Defined as the final fixation that occurs prior to a critical movement, over 70 articles have been published in the last 15 years probing the role that the QE plays in underpinning skilled performance. The aim of this review is to integrate research findings from studies examining the QE as a measure of visuomotor control in the specific domain of targeting skills; motor skills requiring an object to be propelled to a distant target. Previous reviews have focused primarily on the differences in QE between highly skilled performers and their less skilled counterparts. The current review aims to discuss contemporary findings relating to 1. The benefits of QE training for the acquisition and refinement of targeting skills; 2. The effects of anxiety upon the QE and subsequent targeting skill performance and 3. The benefits of QE training in supporting resilient performance under elevated anxiety. Finally, potential processes through which QE training proffers this advantage, including improved attentional control, response programming and external focus, will be discussed and directions for future research proposed.
Topics: Attention; Exercise; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Motor Skills; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 24444212
DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2012.683815 -
Scientific Reports Jan 2022Pupillometry has become a standard measure for assessing arousal state. However, environmental factors such as luminance, a primary dictator of pupillary responses,...
Pupillometry has become a standard measure for assessing arousal state. However, environmental factors such as luminance, a primary dictator of pupillary responses, often vary across studies. To what degree does luminance interact with arousal-driven pupillary changes? Here, we parametrically assessed luminance-driven pupillary responses across a wide-range of luminances, while concurrently manipulating cognitive arousal using auditory math problems of varying difficulty. At the group-level, our results revealed that the modulatory effect of cognitive arousal on pupil size interacts multiplicatively with luminance, with the largest effects occurring at low and mid-luminances. However, at the level of individuals, there were qualitatively distinct individual differences in the modulatory effect of cognitive arousal on luminance-driven pupillary responses. Our findings suggest that pupillometry as a measure for assessing arousal requires more careful consideration: there are ranges of luminance levels that are more ideal in observing pupillary differences between arousal conditions than others.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Adolescent; Adult; Arousal; Cognition; Female; Fixation, Ocular; Heart Rate; Humans; Light; Male; Photic Stimulation; Pupil; Screen Time; Vision, Ocular; Young Adult
PubMed: 35082319
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05280-1 -
Journal of Vision Sep 2020Computer vision-based research has shown that scene semantics (e.g., presence of meaningful objects in a scene) can predict memorability of scene images. Here, we...
Computer vision-based research has shown that scene semantics (e.g., presence of meaningful objects in a scene) can predict memorability of scene images. Here, we investigated whether and to what extent overt attentional correlates, such as fixation map consistency (also called inter-observer congruency of fixation maps) and fixation counts, mediate the relationship between scene semantics and scene memorability. First, we confirmed that the higher the fixation map consistency of a scene, the higher its memorability. Moreover, both fixation map consistency and its correlation to scene memorability were the highest in the first 2 seconds of viewing, suggesting that meaningful scene features that contribute to producing more consistent fixation maps early in viewing, such as faces and humans, may also be important for scene encoding. Second, we found that the relationship between scene semantics and scene memorability was partially (but not fully) mediated by fixation map consistency and fixation counts, separately as well as together. Third, we found that fixation map consistency, fixation counts, and scene semantics significantly and additively contributed to scene memorability. Together, these results suggest that eye-tracking measurements can complement computer vision-based algorithms and improve overall scene memorability prediction.
Topics: Algorithms; Attention; Eye-Tracking Technology; Female; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Male; Semantics; Spatial Memory
PubMed: 32876677
DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.9.2 -
Trends in Neurosciences Apr 2015How is space represented in the visual system? At first glance, the answer to this fundamental question appears straightforward: spatial information is directly encoded... (Review)
Review
How is space represented in the visual system? At first glance, the answer to this fundamental question appears straightforward: spatial information is directly encoded in the locations of neurons within maps. This concept has long dominated visual neuroscience, leading to mainstream theories of how neurons encode information. However, an accumulation of evidence indicates that this purely spatial view is incomplete and that, even for static images, the representation is fundamentally spatiotemporal. The evidence for this new understanding centers on recent experimental findings concerning the functional role of fixational eye movements, the tiny movements humans and other species continually perform, even when attending to a single point. We review some of these findings and discuss their functional implications.
Topics: Animals; Eye Movements; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Motion Perception; Ocular Physiological Phenomena; Visual Pathways; Visual Perception
PubMed: 25698649
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2015.01.005