Theoretical Issues and Methodological Implications in Researching Visual Search Behaviours: A Preliminary Study Comparing the Cognitive and Ecologic Paradigms

José Afonso

¹University of Porto, Faculty of Sports, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, Porto, Portugal

Theoretical Issues and Methodological Implications in Researching Visual Search Behaviours: A Preliminary Study Comparing the Cognitive and Ecologic Paradigms

TEORIJSKA PITANJA I METODOLOŠKE IMPLIKACIJE U ISTRAŽIVANJU VIZUELNOG PONAŠANJA: PRELIMINARNA STUDIJA KOJA POREDI KOGNITIVNE I EKOLOŠKE PARADIGME

Monten. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2013, 2(2), 5-8

Abstract

A number of research papers have been devoted to understanding the mechanisms underpinning successful decision-making in sports, and analysis of eye movements has deserved special attention in this concern. A thorough reading of existing literature denotes that research on ocular fixations requires at least 100 milliseconds within the same location. For average eye-tracking systems, this means using at least three frames for each fixation. However, ecological psychology has claimed that as low as 16.67 milliseconds might suffice to capture relevant information, implying using merely one frame to consider that a fixation has been made. The goal of this experiment was to directly compare two systems (one frame-one fixation versus three frames-one fixation) for coding information concerning eye movements in a representative volleyball task in an in situ condition. Specifically, it was intended to analyse emerging differences and their meaning. Results exhibited statistically significant differences with regard to search rate (number of fixations, number of fixation locations, and mean fixation duration). Analysing fixation locations it was apparent that the ecological paradigm for considering visual fixations afforded supplementary information. Furthermore, the additional emerging cues appeared to be meaningful, and the level of noise introduced was very low. It is suggested that future research in eye movements considers using the one frame-one fixation approach, instead of the traditional three frames-one fixation set.

Keywords

decision-making, visual search behaviours, methodology of investigation

Abstract (MNE)

Određen broj naučnih radova bio je posvećen razumijevanju mehanizama na kojima se zasniva uspješno donošenje odluka u sportu, a analiza očnih pokreta zaslužila je posebnu pažnju kada govorimo o ovom problemu. Temeljnim isčitavanjem postojeće literature dolazimo do saznanja da istrazivanje očne fiksacije zahtijeva najmanje 100 milisekundi u istoj lokaciji. Za prosječne sisteme praćenja oka ovo podrazumijeva korišćenje najmanje tri okvira za svaku fiksaciju. Ipak, ekološka psihologija pokazuje da je s obzirom na to da je svega 16.76 milisekundi dovoljno da se uoči relevantna informacija, dovoljan samo jedan okvir kako bi se fiksacija obavila. Cilj ovog eksperimenta bio je da se direktno uporede dva sistema (jedan okvir-jedna fiksacija naspram tri okvira-jedna fiksacija), kako bi se kodirala informacija koja se tiče očnih pokreta u reprezentativnom odbojkaškom zadatku u spremnom stanju. Naime, cilj je bio analiziranje razlika koje se javljaju i njihovog značenja. Rezultati su pokazali statistički značajne razlike u odnosu na stopu istraživanja (broj fiksacija, broj lokacija za fiksiranje, srednja vrijednost trajanja fiksacije). Analizirajući lokacije za fiksiranje bilo je očigledno da je ekološka paradigma za razmatranje vizuelne fiksacije pružila dodatne informacije. Pored toga, dodatni znaci koji su se pojavili, pokazali su se kao značajni, a nivo predstavljene buke bio je veoma mali. Predlaže se da se ubuduće u istraživanjima očnih pokreta koristi pristup jedan okvir-jedna fiksacija, umjesto tradicionalnog pristupa tri okvira-jedna fiksacija.

Keywords (MNE)

donošenje odluka, istraživanje vizuelnog ponašanja, metodologija istraživanja

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