Cognitive psychology

Driving simulator set-up using a Tobii X120 Eye Tracker.

Cognitive scientists use Tobii Eye Trackers to answer fine-grained questions relating to perception of visual stimuli, in a large variety of research fields:  

• Easier understand growth and transformation of cognitive and social abilities of infants.
• Get additional insights into human acquisition and processing of language.
• Study the interplay between visual perception and reading performance.

  The image shows a traffic situation as perceived by a group of drivers. Eye tracking experiments show differences in visual interest and scan paths of drivers and pedestrians.

• Evaluate usability and examine human factors in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Man Machine Interaction (MMI).
• In media psychology and marketing research , measure impact of different media formats and messages.

Eye tracking is an established technique in laboratory experiments where human perception and performance are tested in attention, learning, memory, and other tasks:

• Scene-analysis and visual-perception experiments
• Reaction-time experiments using eye-movement responses
• Experiments on the relation of learning and performing by exploration
• Experiments on how visual information is perceived, stored and recalled in memory
• Face perception and recognition
• Face-to-face communication experiments

Tobii Eye Trackers can be used as straightforward input devices for E-Prime®.

Through the inclusion of eye tracking in these experiments, researchers can for example:

• Get insight into how selections are made between task-relevant and not-relevant information.
• Determine if selections are made based on spatial representation or perceptual objects.
• Understand visual-attention mechanisms underlying lateral masking or crowding effects (Flanker test).
• Reveal social characteristics and cultural processes (e.g. organizational behavior and business communication).
• Create gaze contingent paradigms with area of interest hit-tests and allow dynamic user interaction.

For example, eye movements provide insight into the relationship between attention and performance in situations where strong skills or decision making abilities are critical, i.e. driving. Through eye tracking experiments researchers have for example found differences in visual-spatial working memory in healthy and damaged brains. 


Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan

• Research on similarities and differences between human cognition and ape cognition. Click here.