Hartendorp, M. , Van der Stigchel, S. , Hooge, I. & Postma, A.
Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Our gaze behaviour can inform us which information we use from the visual input to categorize an object. For instance, when we perceive a living object, we prefer to look at the head of the animal. In the current study, we used morphed figures to investigate whether the interpretation pattern of these unclear objects is reflected in the eye-movement pattern. Morphed figures are created by slowly changing one object into another object. For example, a morphed figure can consist for 70% of object A (dominant object) and for 30% of object B (nondominant object). We conducted a free-naming experiment in which the eye-movements were recorded simultaneously. We investigated whether a similar eye-movement pattern was registered for morphed figures that were categorized as the same object. Our data suggest a strong correlation between what we see in a morphed figure and where we look at in a morphed figure. The next step is to reveal the direction of this correlation: can we predict the eye-movement pattern on the basis of the interpretation or can we predict the interpretation on the basis of the eye-movement pattern?