Analysis of the gaze fixations in performance of mental recall of the route on a city map. Effects of landmark type and gender

Abstract

A psychophysiological eye-tracking experiment was conducted to investigate map navigation (including tasks of familiarization with the map, route memorization and recall of the route) as a function of landmark type (no landmarks, object landmarks, verbal landmarks, both types of landmarks) and gender. It was found that the number of fixations decreased and the fixation duration increased during recall compared to map familiarization and route memorization. The effect of task type on eye movements varied between route proximity areas. In the proximal areas, the number of fixations decreased during recall in comparison to memorization, while in the distal (“off route”) area the effect was opposite. These changes were pronounced in the male participants and did not reach statistical significance in the females. Men switched more frequently from the proximal to the distal area during memorization, thus forming a connection between the route and the remote environment. In contrast, women’s gaze was more often directed to the distal area during route recall. The map with object landmarks differed from the other maps in the lower number and longer fixation duration, indicating the advantage of object landmarks and, possibly, a preference for the object visual cognitive style among our participants.