Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Although visual fixations are commonly used to index stimulus-driven or internally-determined preference, recent evidence suggests that visual fixations can also be a source of decisional bias that moves selection toward the fixated object. These contrasting results raise the question of whether visual fixations always index comparative processes during choice-based tasks, or whether they might better reflect internal preferences when the decision does not carry any economic or corporeal consequences. In two experiments, participants chose which of two objects were more aesthetically pleasing (Exp.1) or appeared more organic (Exp.2), and provided independent aesthetic ratings of the stimuli. Our results demonstrated that fixation parameters were a better index of choice in both decisional domains than of aesthetic preference. The data support models in which visual fixations are specifically related to the evolution of decision processes even when the decision has no tangible consequences.
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Eve A. Isham, Joy J. Geng
Institution: University of California, Davis
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,382
OpenAlex ID: W2023398202