Risk and Ambiguity in Information Seeking: Eye Gaze Patterns Reveal Contextual Behavior in Dealing with Uncertainty

Area of Science:

• Information Science
• Cognitive Psychology
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Information foraging theory models human information seeking behavior using ecological principles.
• The theory posits an exploration-exploitation tradeoff influenced by information scent and user strategy.
• Uncertainty, encompassing risk and ambiguity, plays a crucial role in this tradeoff.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how user traits and perceived risk affect the exploration-exploitation tradeoff in information foraging.
• To examine the relationship between cognitive styles, task difficulty, and search behavior using eye-tracking.
• To connect information seeking behavior with concepts from quantum decision theory.

Main Methods:

• An eye-tracking study was conducted with experts interacting with novel biomedical search interfaces.
• User traits, including cognitive styles and perceived task difficulty, were assessed.
• Search behavior, eye gaze patterns, and the balance between exploration and exploitation were analyzed.

Main Results:

• User cognitive styles and perceived search task difficulty significantly correlated with eye gaze and search behavior.
• Perceived risk was found to shift the exploration-exploitation balance, influencing ambiguity minimization.
• The sequential nature of information foraging limits simultaneous risk and ambiguity minimization.

Conclusions:

• User-specific traits and risk perception are critical determinants of information foraging strategies.
• The inherent tradeoff between exploration and exploitation, influenced by risk and ambiguity, presents fundamental limits in information seeking.
• This research bridges information foraging with quantum decision theory, offering new perspectives on human decision-making under uncertainty.