A Case study of problem solving in eye-tracking

Download
index.pdf
2013
Özdemir, Doruk
Show full item record
305
views
111
downloads
Traditional theories of cognition have been critiqued for underestimating the role and contributions of embodied processes, more specifically the role of sensorimotor skills, in higher-order cognitive processes such as reasoning and problem-solving. Embodied theories of cognition have started to emphasize and illustrate the prominent roles of lower-level processes and sensorimotor skills in mental processes. This thesis aims to reveal the connection between higher cognitive skills, specifically problem-solving processes and sensorimotor skills, specifically eye movements. In the thesis, three almost equally hard problems have been chosen in order to observe participants’ eye-movements via eye-tracking method (Tobii Eye-Tracker). Participants have been presented three problems in three different conditions and they were asked to solve them while looking at the screen. These problems are the river problem, the Tower of Hanoi, and the Water Jug problem. The three conditions have been presented sequentially; (1) visual-aid (with a picture), (2) blank screen, (3) fixation conditions. The order of the conditions is kept the same among all of the participants, while they are asked a different problem in each condition. The participants are asked to solve the puzzles by reporting the minimum number of actions required and select the correct answer when prompted. The results of the experiment indicated that problem solving performance was not significantly impaired by the restrictions imposed on the availability of visual cues and the restrictions enforced on eye movements. This suggests that sensory modalities (vision) and their bodily extensions like eye movements may not be the strongest factor underpinning the management of higher-order cognitive functions in the context of well-defined visuospatial reasoning tasks, as predicted by the radical embodied cognition view. However, the similarities between scan paths observed during picture and blank condition suggest that eye-movements act as an important facilitation mechanism for the management of attentional resources during such problem solving processes.
Visual perception., Comprehension., Problem solving., Cognitive learning., Perceptual-motor learning.
http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12616556/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/22975
Graduate School of Informatics, Thesis

Suggestions

An assessment of the status of the multiple realizability thesis in cognitive science
Baysan, Emin Umut; Temürcü, Ceyhan; Department of Cognitive Sciences (2011)
It has been argued that there are physically different ways of instantiating mental properties, the nature of which is the subject matter of cognitive science. This claim has been known as the Multiple Realizability Thesis (MRT). It has been suggested that the MRT shows that a reduction of mental properties to physical properties is impossible, as there cannot be one-to-one correspondences of mental properties to the properties of the brain. Moreover, it has been argued that the latter point shows that phys...
A new outlier detection method based on convex optimization: application to diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
TAYLAN, PAKİZE; Yerlikaya-Ozkurt, Fatma; Bilgic Ucak, Burcu; Weber, Gerhard Wilhelm (Informa UK Limited, 2020-12-01)
Neuroscience is a combination of different scientific disciplines which investigate the nervous system for understanding of the biological basis. Recently, applications to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease have become very promising by considering different statistical regression models. However, well-known statistical regression models may give misleading results for the diagnosis of the neurodegenerative diseases when experimental data contain outlier observations that l...
A conceptual model of relationships among constructivist learning environment perceptions, epistemological beliefs, and learning approaches
Özkal, Kudret; Öztekin, Ceren; Çakıroğlu, Jale; Sungur, Semra (2009-01-01)
This study proposed a conceptual model of relationships among constructivist learning environment perception variables (Personal Relevance, Uncertainty, Critical Voice, Shared Control. and Student Negotiation), scientific epistemological belief variables (fixed and tentative), and learning approach. It was proposed that learning environment perceptions predict learning approach directly and indirectly through scientific epistemological beliefs. Constructivist Learning Environment Survey, Scientific Epistemo...
Cortical localization debate with its historical background
Ekemen, Cengiz; Bağçe, Samet; Gökçay, Didem; Department of Philosophy (2012)
The primary aim of this thesis is the consideration of neuroscientific studies regarding the localization of high-level cognitive (i.e., nonsensory and nonmotor) processes into the brain. To accomplish this aim, I briefly summarized history of the localizations which lead to the cortical localization of high-level cognitive processes. Then, I present a case study, memory consolidation to compare molecular neuroscience (MN) and cognitive neuroscience (CN) as to how they differ in their localizations. After I...
Material Processuality: Alternative Grounds for Design Research
Tönük Kruıthof, Damla (Informa UK Limited, 2020-01-01)
This article opens discussion on the positivist epistemology underlying the understandings of materials in design research that have been brought along as a result of theory and methods inherited from engineering and psychology. Examining the ambitions of work that seeks to operationalize knowledge created by these methods in the design process, we propose that attending to the processuality of material forms is a more adequate way for design research to capture the multiplicity of materials. We develop thi...
Citation Formats
D. Özdemir, “A Case study of problem solving in eye-tracking,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2013.
METU IIS - Integrated Information Service open@metu.edu.tr