Assessing Perceptual Load and Cognitive Load by Fixation-Related Information of Eye Movements.

Jung-Chun Liu,Kuei-An Li,Shao-Yi Chien,Su-Ling Yeh

doi:10.3390/s22031187

Jung-Chun Liu, Kuei-An Li + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s22031187

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Abstract

Assessing mental workload is imperative for avoiding unintended negative consequences in critical situations such as driving and piloting. To evaluate mental workload, measures of eye movements have been adopted, but unequivocal results remain elusive, especially those related to fixation-related parameters. We aimed to resolve the discrepancy of previous results by differentiating two kinds of mental workload (perceptual load and cognitive load) and manipulated them independently using a modified video game. We found opposite effects of the two kinds of mental workload on fixation-related parameters: shorter fixation durations and more fixations when participants played an episode with high (vs. low) perceptual load, and longer fixation durations and fewer fixations when they played an episode with high (vs. low) cognitive load. Such opposite effects were in line with the load theory and demonstrated that fixation-related parameters can be used to index mental workload at different (perceptual and cognitive) stages of mental processing.

Highlights

Mental workload, the tuning between demands of the environment and the capacity of the individual [1], has a crucial influence on daily activities, especially when impaired performances can lead to negative consequences
The opposite effects of different types of loads on fixation-related parameters we found here suggest that eye movement parameters, especially the fixation-related parameters, can reveal more than the general mental workload perceived as assessed by other measures and the level of different types of loads perceived by the individual
Assessing mental workload is imperative for avoiding unwanted negative consequences in several daily activities

Summary

Introduction

The tuning between demands of the environment and the capacity of the individual [1], has a crucial influence on daily activities, especially when impaired performances can lead to negative consequences. The driver’s awareness of unexpected stimuli (e.g., a sudden appearing animal) or environmental changes (e.g., the change of the leading car’s position) was reduced [3,4,5,6,7]. Such effects of mental workload on performances were found in situations, such as aviation [8,9] and surgery [10], and in other sensory modalities, such as hearing [5,6,8] and touch [11]. The vehicle or road designers can utilize such information to refine their products by, for example, removing any bad designs that may overload the user’s mental capacity

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