An integrated model of eye movements and visual encoding

Dario D Salvucci
2001 Cognitive Systems Research  
Recent computational models of cognition have made good progress in accounting for the visual processes needed to encode external stimuli. However, these models typically incorporate simplified models of visual processing that assume a constant encoding time for all visual objects and do not distinguish between eye movements and shifts of attention. This paper presents a domain-independent computational model, EMMA, that provides a more rigorous account of eye movements and visual encoding and
more » ... heir interaction with a cognitive processor. The visualencoding component of the model describes the effects of frequency and foveal eccentricity when encoding visual objects as internal representations. The eye-movement component describes the temporal and spatial characteristics of eye movements as they arise from shifts of visual attention. When integrated with a cognitive model, EMMA generates quantitative predictions concerning when and where the eyes move, thus serving to relate higher-level cognitive processes and attention shifts with lower-level eye-movement behavior. The paper evaluates EMMA in three illustrative domains -equation solving, reading, and visual search -and demonstrates how the model accounts for aspects of behavior that simpler models of cognitive and visual processing fail to explain. Keywords: eye movements, cognitive models, reading, visual search, computational models. Salvucci, Eye Movements and Visual Encoding Models of cognition have recently taken great strides in interacting with the visual world. Early models of cognitive processing often assumed that visual stimuli were already encoded and stored as internal representations. Recently, however, many models have begun also to account for the visual processing needed to encode stimuli through the planned movement of visual attention; for instance, researchers have developed such models in domains including reading (e.g.,
doi:10.1016/s1389-0417(00)00015-2 fatcat:m2r2epjchfbejix26ghjmt2tee