Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1394-1418 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: General |
| Volume | 151 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Memory plays a major but underexplored role in judgment and decision making (JDM). Studying eye movements—especially how people look at empty spatial locations when retrieving from memory information previously associated with those locations—provides useful information about how memory influences JDM. This so-called looking-at-nothing behavior is thought to reflect memory-driven allocation of attention. However, eye movements are also guided toward salient visual stimuli, such as test items presented on a screen. It is unclear how these multiple sources of activation combine to guide looking-at-nothing in JDM. We investigated this question in two experiments in which participants solved multiattribute categorization tasks using an exemplar-based decision strategy. In the first experiment, we tested how the occurrence and the strength of looking-at-nothing vary with the presentation format and the amount of training participants received. Looking-at-nothing occurred during categorizations when test-item information was presented auditorily and visually, but for the latter only after visual information was removed from the screen. It occurred both when training items were learned by heart and when they were presented 10 times on the screen. A second experiment revealed that an explicit instruction to imagine retrieval-relevant information during categorizations increased looking-at-nothing but did not change the decision-making process. The results shed light on the interaction between eye movements and attention to information in memory during JDM that can be explained in light of a shared priority map in memory. A detailed understanding of this interaction forms the basis for using eye movements to study memory processes in JDM.
Keywords
- Attention, Decision making, Eye movements, Memory, Similarity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Psychology(all)
- General Psychology
- Neuroscience(all)
- Developmental Neuroscience
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In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol. 151, No. 6, 2021, p. 1394-1418.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - When the eyes have it and when not: How multiple sources of activation combine to guide eye movements during multi-attribute decision- making.
AU - Rosner, Agnes
AU - Schaffner, Michael
AU - von Helversen, Bettina
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021. American Psychological Association
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Memory plays a major but underexplored role in judgment and decision making (JDM). Studying eye movements—especially how people look at empty spatial locations when retrieving from memory information previously associated with those locations—provides useful information about how memory influences JDM. This so-called looking-at-nothing behavior is thought to reflect memory-driven allocation of attention. However, eye movements are also guided toward salient visual stimuli, such as test items presented on a screen. It is unclear how these multiple sources of activation combine to guide looking-at-nothing in JDM. We investigated this question in two experiments in which participants solved multiattribute categorization tasks using an exemplar-based decision strategy. In the first experiment, we tested how the occurrence and the strength of looking-at-nothing vary with the presentation format and the amount of training participants received. Looking-at-nothing occurred during categorizations when test-item information was presented auditorily and visually, but for the latter only after visual information was removed from the screen. It occurred both when training items were learned by heart and when they were presented 10 times on the screen. A second experiment revealed that an explicit instruction to imagine retrieval-relevant information during categorizations increased looking-at-nothing but did not change the decision-making process. The results shed light on the interaction between eye movements and attention to information in memory during JDM that can be explained in light of a shared priority map in memory. A detailed understanding of this interaction forms the basis for using eye movements to study memory processes in JDM.
AB - Memory plays a major but underexplored role in judgment and decision making (JDM). Studying eye movements—especially how people look at empty spatial locations when retrieving from memory information previously associated with those locations—provides useful information about how memory influences JDM. This so-called looking-at-nothing behavior is thought to reflect memory-driven allocation of attention. However, eye movements are also guided toward salient visual stimuli, such as test items presented on a screen. It is unclear how these multiple sources of activation combine to guide looking-at-nothing in JDM. We investigated this question in two experiments in which participants solved multiattribute categorization tasks using an exemplar-based decision strategy. In the first experiment, we tested how the occurrence and the strength of looking-at-nothing vary with the presentation format and the amount of training participants received. Looking-at-nothing occurred during categorizations when test-item information was presented auditorily and visually, but for the latter only after visual information was removed from the screen. It occurred both when training items were learned by heart and when they were presented 10 times on the screen. A second experiment revealed that an explicit instruction to imagine retrieval-relevant information during categorizations increased looking-at-nothing but did not change the decision-making process. The results shed light on the interaction between eye movements and attention to information in memory during JDM that can be explained in light of a shared priority map in memory. A detailed understanding of this interaction forms the basis for using eye movements to study memory processes in JDM.
KW - Attention
KW - Decision making
KW - Eye movements
KW - Memory
KW - Similarity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119272155&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - doi.org/10.1037/xge0000833
DO - doi.org/10.1037/xge0000833
M3 - Article
VL - 151
SP - 1394
EP - 1418
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
SN - 0096-3445
IS - 6
ER -