LOOKING BEHAVIOR AND PENETRATIVE THINKING: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EYE MOVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

The relationship between looking behavior and mental processes is of interest to cognitive scientists trying to understand how complex mental tasks are performed. Here we examine the relationship between eye movements and penetrative thinking, the ability to reason about the interior of an object (Kali & Orion, 1996). We present a preliminary analysis of novice participants looking behavior while visualizing the inside of block diagrams. Ten psychology undergraduates viewed 14 block diagrams presented with and without potential cross-section. Preliminary analysis suggests that when first inspecting the diagram without the cross-section students spend more time examining the top and less time on the sides. Once the cross-section plane is shown students concentrate their fixations on the cross-section region of the diagrams and the multiple choice options. Analysis of looking time on correct and incorrect trials revealed that overall looking time did not differ on correct and incorrect trials. The relationship between eye movements and mental processes in geology will be discussed.