Foveal and peripheral influences on the control of gaze and attention during scene perception: Experiments and mathematical modeling

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Ralf Engbert; Dr. Jochen Laubrock
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2012 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221217560

High-resolution vision is limited to the fovea of our visual system, since visual information in the periphery is blurred because of limited acuity. The fovea is particularly sensitive for medium and high spatial frequencies, while the periphery is optimized for low spatial frequencies. Therefore, foveal information is used for the identification and detailed analysis of fixated stimuli and peripheral information is important for spatial orienting and selection of the upcoming saccade target. The scientific goal of the project is the characterization of the influence of foveal and peripheral information processing on the temporal control of eye movements and attention in natural scenes based on a process model. During the first funding phase, we carried out 9 experiments using gaze-contingent high- and low-pass filtering in the central and peripheral visual field. Furthermore, we developed a mathematical model for the control of fixation durations. In the model, the central assumption was that there are opposing dynamical influences of foveal and peripheral processing on the control of fixation duration. Model parameters could be identified based on experimental data from gaze-contingent filtering. The main research goals for the second funding phase are as follows: (1) Investigation of foveal and peripheral influences on the temporal control of eye movements across task variations, (2) empirical description of the range of spatial frequencies and color, with preferential use in different regions of the visual field over time, (3) development of a mathematical model of saccade generation during scene viewing, which integrates fixation durations and spatial control. (4) Finally, we plan to create an annotated reference corpus of eye-movement data using gaze-contingent spatial frequency filtering of natural scenes. This corpus will be provided for the validation of models of visual attention and eye-movement control.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Felix A. Wichmann