Journal article

The interplay between task difficulty and microsaccade rate: Evidence for the critical role of visual load

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  • Published online 2021-04-28
Published in:
  • Journal of Eye Movement Research. - 2020, vol. 13, no. 5, p. 1-12
English In previous research, microsaccades have been suggested as psychophysiological indicators of task load. So far, it is still under debate how different types of task demands are influencing microsaccade rate. This piece of research examines the relation between visual load, mental load and microsaccade rate. Fourteen participants carried out a continuous performance task (n-back), in which visual (letters vs. abstract figures) and mental task load (1-back to 4-back) were manipulated as within-subjects variables. Eye tracking data, performance data as well as subjective workload were recorded. Data analysis revealed an increased level of microsaccade rate for stimuli of high visual demand (i.e. abstract figures), while mental demand (n-back-level) did not modulate microsaccade rate. In conclusion, the present results suggest that microsaccade rate reflects visual load of a task rather than its mental load.
Faculty
Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
Department
Département de Psychologie
Language
  • English
Classification
Psychology
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Publisher's version

License
CC BY
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/309686
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