Measuring Eye Movements in Learning Research: A Useful Window to Cognition

Abstract

Analyzing the eye movements made while inspecting a visual environment can be of valuable help to get insight in the involved cognitive processes. With the help of state-of-the-art eye-tracking systems and using various paradigms, researchers are able to measure and interpret different eye movement parameters such as fixations, saccades, pupil size and scan paths when evaluating visual surfaces (e.g. in consumer research or user interface design). These analyses allow to widen the knowledge on complex processes, such as decision-making, or to investigate e.g. learning strategies. The current article aims at giving an overview of how eye-tracking and the analysis of eye movements, respectively, might be useful in the emerging and changing field of Learning Research: Firstly, the physiological and anatomical basics of eye movements are reflected, then the concept of eye-tracking and different technological systems for that purpose are introduced. Moreover, we will summarize eye movement parameters and finally end with a reflection of eye-tracking in Learning Research.