Visualizing mathematics: Insight from eye-tracking studies
(2021) 8th International Conference on Spatial Cognition — Location: Roma (13.September.2021)
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- Authors
Salvaggio, Samuel 
- Abstract
- It has been suggested that number manipulation involves shifting attention along a left-to-right oriented continuum. In an attempt to further our comprehension of this mechanism, I will present a series of eye-tracking experiments combining free visual exploration with auditory numerical tasks. The first experiment required participants to compare two-digit numbers to 45. A leftward ocular drift was observed while participants were listening to numbers smaller than the reference in comparison to larger numbers. The drift started early when the decade was sufficiently discriminating to allow a fast decision but later when the unit needed to be processed. The second experiment investigated the solving of addition and subtraction problems. A first difference was observed just after hearing the operator: the plus sign shifted the eye rightward compared to the minus sign. A second difference was observed later between problem offset and response onset: addition shifted the eye rightward compared to subtraction. In a last experiment, I measured the pupil light response of participants performing an auditory comparison task in front of a screen split into a dark and a bright area. Under strict control of central fixation, I showed that variations of pupil diameter reflected the side covertly attended by the participants as they classified numbers as smaller or larger than 45. These data indicate that number manipulation involves covert attention shifts that surface at an oculomotor level and reflect the dynamic integration of the serial order of numbers, their organization in units and decades, and the polarity of arithmetic signs.
- Affiliations
Citations
Andres, M., Masson, N., & Salvaggio, S. (2021). Visualizing mathematics: Insight from eye-tracking studies. Cognitive Processing : international quarterly of cognitive science, 22(Supplement Issue 1), 3-67. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/110391 (Original work published 2021)