Central motivation of our grant proposal is to critically question the generalizability of the static scene-viewing paradigm. The concerns under scrutiny were raised by Tatler and colleagues (2011) in a review article. We are planning to use mobile eye-tracking in a series of experiments to investigate four effects on eye movements: the effect (i) of body posture and position, (ii) of natural orientation towards a static scene, (iii) of movement preparation during scene perception, and (iv) of depth cues. We will analyze eye movement parameters like the distribution of saccade amplitudes, fixation positions, and fixation durations. In addition, we will compute pair correlation functions, a method from spatial statistics to further understand the dynamics of scanpath generation. Finally, the experimental data will be used twofold: to evaluate an existing dynamical model for the generation of scanpaths and to develop a model of oculomotor error during scene viewing. The models are thought to be fundamental for the development of process models for the control of eye movements in natural settings.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
