Manual and Ocular Observing Behavior in Human Subjects

Abstract

The present experiment analyzed manual and ocular observing behavior during a Wyckoff observing-response procedure. Following visual discrimination training with a multiple variable-interval extinction schedule, four human subjects pressed a key to earn points under the corresponding mixed schedule. Subjects could emit a manual response, touching a spot on a computer touchscreen, that produced S+ and S- stimuli correlated with the variable-interval and extinction components, respectively, thus converting the mixed schedule into a multiple schedule. Eye-tracking apparatus measured ocular observing behavior in both multiple and mixed schedules. Under the multiple schedule, subjects tended to look at S+ for longer durations than S-. Under the mixed schedule, in contrast, most subjects manually produced S- for longer durations than S+. Comparisons of the ocular and manual observing responses indicate that direct measurements of eye movements reveal characteristics of observing behavior that do not derive from manual observing responses alone.