Eye-blinks in choice response tasks uncover hidden aspects of information processing

Wascher, Edmund; Heppner, Holger; Möckel, Tina; Kobald, S. Oliver; Getzmann, Stephan

doi:10.17179/excli2015-696

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Besides moisturizing the eye, naturally occurring blink-events have been shown to segment the flow of continuous visual information [33][34][35]. Thus, EEG data that are blink-segmented are likely to contain event-related cognitive activity related to visual information segmentation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, they are functionally timed to segment periods of meaningful visual information. For instance, blinks tend to occur at the end of a sentence when reading [33], at the end of a scene when watching movies [34], or after a decision that has been made [35]. Interestingly, this behavior has also been observed during auditory information processing, suggesting that it might be a general trans-modal reflex [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Visual Demands of Walking Are Reflected in Eye-Blink-Evoked EEG-Activity

et al. 2022

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Blinking is a natural user-induced response which paces visual information processing. This study investigates whether blinks are viable for segmenting continuous electroencephalography (EEG) activity, for inferring cognitive demands in ecologically valid work environments. We report the blink-related EEG measures of participants who performed auditory tasks either standing, walking on grass, or whilst completing an obstacle course. Blink-related EEG activity discriminated between different levels of cognitive demand during walking. Both behavioral parameters (e.g., blink duration or head motion) and blink-related EEG activity varied with walking conditions. Larger occipital N1 was observed during walking, relative to standing and traversing an obstacle course, which reflects differences in bottom-up visual perception. In contrast, the amplitudes of top-down components (N2, P3) significantly decreased with increasing walking demands, which reflected narrowing attention. This is consistent with blink-related EEG, specifically in Theta and Alpha power that, respectively, increased and decreased with increasing demands of the walking task. This work presents a novel and robust analytical approach to evaluate the cognitive demands experienced in natural work settings, which precludes the use of artificial task manipulations for data segmentation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Visual Demands of Walking Are Reflected in Eye-Blink-Evoked EEG-Activity

et al. 2022

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“…Can blink behaviour help us to assess a difference in attentional state during the various conditions of our creative thinking task? It has been shown that there is an active suppression of blinks during the processing of a visual stimulus (Bonneh et al, 2016 ; Murali & Händel, 2021 ; Wascher et al, 2015 ). This can be most prominently observed as blink rate reduction during the presentation of the sensory input and a subsequent blink rate increase (Brych & Händel, 2020 ; Oh et al, 2012 ; Siegle et al, 2008 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motor restrictions impair divergent thinking during walking and during sitting

Murali

Händel

2022

Psychological Research

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Creativity, specifically divergent thinking, has been shown to benefit from unrestrained walking. Despite these findings, it is not clear if it is the lack of restriction that leads to the improvement. Our goal was to explore the effects of motor restrictions on divergent thinking for different movement states. In addition, we assessed whether spontaneous eye blinks, which are linked to motor execution, also predict performance. In experiment 1, we compared the performance in Guilford’s alternate uses task (AUT) during walking vs. sitting, and analysed eye blink rates during both conditions. We found that AUT scores were higher during walking than sitting. Albeit eye blinks differed significantly between movement conditions (walking vs. sitting) and task phase (baseline vs. thinking vs. responding), they did not correlate with task performance. In experiment 2 and 3, participants either walked freely or in a restricted path, or sat freely or fixated on a screen. When the factor restriction was explicitly modulated, the effect of walking was reduced, while restriction showed a significant influence on the fluency scores. Importantly, we found a significant correlation between the rate of eye blinks and creativity scores between subjects, depending on the restriction condition. Our study shows a movement state-independent effect of restriction on divergent thinking. In other words, similar to unrestrained walking, unrestrained sitting also improves divergent thinking. Importantly, we discuss a mechanistic explanation of the effect of restriction on divergent thinking based on the increased size of the focus of attention and the consequent bias towards flexibility.

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“…Second, blinks occur predominantly at the end of an information stream, for example, at the end of scenes when watching movies, or at the end of a sentence when reading ( Fogarty & Stern, 1989 ; Nakano et al, 2009 ). In laboratory settings, blinks have been observed after a decision was made or at the end of an experimental trial, when information processing is finished ( Wascher et al, 2015 ). Even when auditory information is processed, the same timing of eye blinks occurs ( Kobald et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Available Physiological Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroergonomics on the Go: An Evaluation of the Potential of Mobile EEG for Workplace Assessment and Design

et al. 2021

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Objective We demonstrate and discuss the use of mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) for neuroergonomics. Both technical state of the art as well as measures and cognitive concepts are systematically addressed. Background Modern work is increasingly characterized by information processing. Therefore, the examination of mental states, mental load, or cognitive processing during work is becoming increasingly important for ergonomics. Results Mobile EEG allows to measure mental states and processes under real live conditions. It can be used for various research questions in cognitive neuroergonomics. Besides measures in the frequency domain that have a long tradition in the investigation of mental fatigue, task load, and task engagement, new approaches—like blink-evoked potentials—render event-related analyses of the EEG possible also during unrestricted behavior. Conclusion Mobile EEG has become a valuable tool for evaluating mental states and mental processes on a highly objective level during work. The main advantage of this technique is that working environments don’t have to be changed while systematically measuring brain functions at work. Moreover, the workflow is unaffected by such neuroergonomic approaches.

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Eye-blinks in choice response tasks uncover hidden aspects of information processing

Cited by 25 publications

References 56 publications

Visual Demands of Walking Are Reflected in Eye-Blink-Evoked EEG-Activity

Visual Demands of Walking Are Reflected in Eye-Blink-Evoked EEG-Activity

Motor restrictions impair divergent thinking during walking and during sitting

Neuroergonomics on the Go: An Evaluation of the Potential of Mobile EEG for Workplace Assessment and Design

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