Early Eye Disengagement Is Regulated by Task Complexity and Task Repetition in Visual Tracking Task

Area of Science:

• Human-computer interaction
• Cognitive neuroscience
• Behavioral science

Background:

• Understanding human actions relies on interpreting bio-signals.
• Early eye disengagement from the target (EEDT) is a proactive gaze behavior for environmental awareness and rapid reactions.
• The influence of task difficulty and repetition on EEDT remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how task difficulty and repetition affect EEDT.
• To establish EEDT as a potential measure for task performance and cognitive load.

Main Methods:

• A visual tracking task with arrow movement videos was employed.
• Eye movements were tracked, with task complexity manipulated by varying movement steps.
• Each pattern was repeated to assess repetition effects, alongside recall accuracy and cognitive load assessments.

Main Results:

• Increased task difficulty led to decreased recall accuracy, increased cognitive load, and significantly reduced EEDT.
• EEDT was higher in the second trial, particularly for less complex tasks.
• EEDT showed a positive correlation with recall accuracy and a negative correlation with cognitive load.

Conclusions:

• Task complexity reduces EEDT, whereas task repetition enhances it.
• EEDT is a promising sensory measure for assessing task performance and cognitive load.
• EEDT has potential for developing advanced eye-tracking-based sensors.