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Updated: Jun 9, 2026
09:27
Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language
Published on: October 13, 2018
Looking, language, and memory: bridging research from the visual world and visual search paradigms
Falk Huettig1, Christian N L Olivers, Robert J Hartsuiker
1Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. falk.huettig@mpi.nl
Acta Psychologica
|September 7, 2010
Summary
This study integrates psycholinguistics and visual attention research to model how language guides visual orienting. A proposed model highlights working memory
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
- Visual Attention Research
Background:
- Current theories inadequately explain how linguistic representations guide visual attention.
- Visual attention research increasingly explores higher-order representations, including language and memory, influencing visual orienting.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence from psycholinguistics and visual attention research.
- To propose a unified model of language-mediated visual orienting.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature from the visual world paradigm and visual search paradigm.
- Theoretical integration of findings from psycholinguistics and visual attention research.
Main Results:
- A model is proposed where working memory integrates long-term visual and linguistic representations with specific locations.
- The interaction between language and visual attention is influenced by working memory content, capacity, and cognitive control.
Conclusions:
- Working memory is central to binding linguistic and visual information for guiding attention.
- Language significantly influences visual orienting, contingent on specific cognitive mechanisms and limitations.
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