Eye Movements and Problem Solving
- 1 September 2003
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Science
- Vol. 14 (5), 462-466
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.02454
Abstract
Overt visual attention during diagram-based problem solving, as measured by eye movements, has been used in numerous studies to reveal critical aspects of the problem-solving process that traditional measures like solution time and accuracy cannot address. In Experiment 1, we used this methodology to show that particular fixation patterns correlate with success in solving the tumor-and-lasers radiation problem. Given this correlation between attention to a particular diagram feature and problem-solving insight, we investigated participants' cognitive sensitivity to perceptual changes in that diagram feature. In Experiment 2, we found that perceptually highlighting the critical diagram component, identified in Experiment 1, significantly increased the frequency of correct solutions. Taking a situated perspective on cognition, we suggest that environmentally controlled perceptual properties can guide attention and eye movements in ways that assist in developing problem-solving insights that dramatically improve reasoning.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Dynamics and constraints in insight problem solving.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2002
- Constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition in insight problem solving.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1999
- Perceptions of perceptual symbolsBehavioral and Brain Sciences, 1999
- The situativity of knowing, learning, and research.American Psychologist, 1998
- Integration of Visual and Linguistic Information in Spoken Language ComprehensionScience, 1995
- Constructing Mental Models of Machines from Text and DiagramsJournal of Memory and Language, 1993
- In search of insightCognitive Psychology, 1990
- Intuition in insight and noninsight problem solvingMemory & Cognition, 1987
- Cognitive coordinate systems: Accounts of mental rotation and individual differences in spatial ability.Psychological Review, 1985
- Schema induction and analogical transferCognitive Psychology, 1983