PSYC5510 - Eye Movements in Perception, Language and Cognition

In this course, we examine how the recording of eye movements can provide a moment-by-moment record of perceptual, cognitive and linguistic processes. Four areas of research will be discussed: (1) task-based scene perception; (2) language processing (in both reading and spoken language); (3) category learning, and (4) decision making. In all of these domains, eyetracking research has led to a greater understanding of how attention and information selection supports real-time cognitive processes. Students will have access to eyetracking systems, giving them hands-on experience in designing, running, and analyzing eyetracking experiments. By the end of the semester, students will have collected pilot eyetracking data. Projects will be done individually or within small research teams. Requirements: Weekly readings; class presentations and discussion; and a paper.