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  • Essay / Eye movements are a reflection of cognitive processes

    IntroductionThe mind is an intriguing element of human life not only because of its complexity and capabilities, but especially because of its opacity. How does psychology begin to understand something so obscure and complex? Obviously, by observing and measuring the product of cognitive processes that occur through an interaction between the external and internal world. The term “cognitive processes” is a rather collective term for a range of mental processes such as perceiving, thinking, speaking, acting, planning and imagining (Ward, 2006). The processes themselves are extremely difficult to measure directly, if possible. However, one can better understand these mental processes by observing covert products, such as hemodynamic and electrophysiological changes, and overt products, such as behavior, accuracy, response times, and eye movements. The purpose of this essay is to review the evidence that demonstrates exactly how eye movements reflect cognitive processes. Due to the vastness of the topic, this essay will focus on just one of the aforementioned cognitive processes. Many studies and reviews have focused on eye movements as tools for understanding the processes of reading, visual perception, visual search, and attention (e.g., Rayner, 1998; Liversedge and Findlay, 2000; Schutz , Braun and Gegenfurtner, 2011). ). All of the mentioned areas of research involve the measurement of eye movements when viewing some form of visual stimulus. This thesis will explore a more aberrant area. Evidence will be based on literature relating to eye movements when sensory and visual input is absent, during visual mental imagery. literature fundamental themes linked to the eye...... middle of article ......information processing: 20 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 372-422. Schutz, AC, Braun, DI and Gegenfurtner, KR (2011). Eye movements and perception: a selective review. Journal of Vision, 5, 1-30. Shallice, T. (1988). From neuropsychology to mental structure. New York: Cambridge University Press. Sima, J.F., Lindner, M., Schultheis, H., and Barkowsky, T. (2010). Eye movements reflect reasoning with mental images but not with mental models in orientation knowledge tasks. Spatial Cognition, 10, 248-261. Spivey, M.J. and Geng, J.J. (2001). Oculomotor mechanisms activated by imagery and memory: eye movements towards absent objects. Psychological Research, 65, 235-241. Ward, J. (2006). Students guide cognitive neuroscience. New York: Psychology Press. Watson, J.B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist conceives it. Psychological review, 20, 158-177.