Effects of internally directed cognition on smooth pursuit eye movements: A systematic examination of perceptual decoupling

Eye behavior differs between internally and externally directed cognition and thus is indicative of an internal versus external attention focus. Recent work implicated perceptual decoupling (i.e., eye behavior becoming less determined by the sensory environment) as one of the key mechanisms involved...

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Published in:Attention, perception & psychophysics perception & psychophysics, 2023-05, Vol.85 (4), p.1159-1178
Main Authors: Korda, Živa, Walcher, Sonja, Körner, Christof, Benedek, Mathias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arithmetic
Attention
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Psychology
Environment
Eye Movements
Humans
Information Processing
Mental Computation
Motion Perception
Motor Reactions
Psychology
Pursuit, Smooth
Reading
Resistance (Psychology)
Short Term Memory
Workloads
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Summary:Eye behavior differs between internally and externally directed cognition and thus is indicative of an internal versus external attention focus. Recent work implicated perceptual decoupling (i.e., eye behavior becoming less determined by the sensory environment) as one of the key mechanisms involved in these attention-related eye movement differences. However, it is not yet understood how perceptual decoupling depends on the characteristics of the internal task. Therefore, we systematically examined effects of varying internal task demands on smooth pursuit eye movements. Specifically, we evaluated effects of the internal workload (control vs. low vs. high) and of internal task (arithmetic vs. visuospatial). The results of multilevel modelling showed that effects of perceptual decoupling were stronger for higher workload, and more pronounced for the visuospatial modality. Effects also followed a characteristic time-course relative to internal operations. The findings provide further support of the perceptual decoupling mechanism by showing that it is sensitive to the degree of interference between external and internal information.
ISSN:1943-3921
1943-393X
1943-393X
DOI:10.3758/s13414-023-02688-3