The degree of human visual attention in the visual search

Human beings can obtain visual information in parallel through the retina, but they cannot pay attention to all the information at the same time. In psychological studies, the human characteristics of visual attention have often been investigated by analyzing the characteristics of the visual search task. Previous studies suggested that the information features of the visual search task are processed in parallel at early stages of processing. However, the authors consider that these features are not processed completely in parallel, and have a reciprocal action to each other. In order to clarify the reciprocal action of the features in a visual search and the continuity of visual attention, the characteristics of reaction times were measured with changing forms of visual stimuli. The experimental results suggested that the reaction time changed when the features of the visual stimuli in the visual search task changed. This means that the features are affected by each other. Furthermore, continuity of reciprocal action is also suggested, and the degree of visual attention is decided by this continuity. The results provided significant basic data to support our proposed mathematical model of visual attention. This work was presented, in part, at the Fourth International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 19–22, 1999     

视觉注意机制在大视场目标快速定位中的应用

视觉心理学研究表明人类在看一个场景时,往往会在很短时间内找到几个显著区,然后再细看显著区域的内容,这样可以使得人类可以快速分析复杂图像。算法首先模拟人类视觉系统特点,根据图像的底层信息如对比度、方向、亮度等提取图像中几个最需要关注的显著区域,然后按照显著性由强到弱的顺序分别在每个显著区域利用具有尺度旋转不变性的对数极坐标变换方法进行目标的匹配定位。该方法在没有牺牲定位准确度的前提下,大幅减小了运算复杂度。实验表明该算法定位速度快而且准确。     

Investigating an application of speech‐to‐text recognition: a study on visual attention and learning behaviour

One major drawback of previous research on speech‐to‐text recognition (STR) is that most findings showing the effectiveness of STR for learning were based upon subjective evidence. Very few studies have used eye‐tracking techniques to investigate visual attention of students on STR‐generated text. Furthermore, not much attention was paid to learning differences, such as learning ability, learning style preferences and gender, to use STR texts. Therefore, this study carried out one experiment. Firstly, participants' visual attention on STR‐generated text was investigated by employing eye‐tracking technique. Secondly, how differently effective STR‐generated texts can be to influence participants' learning achievement was tested. Thirdly, this study compared visual attention and learning behaviour with the different characteristics of participants, such as learning ability, learning style preferences and gender, to use STR‐generated texts. Finally, this study explored students' perceptions regarding usefulness of STR‐generated texts for learning. This paper discusses results, research findings and implications along with conclusions and several suggestions for future development and research.     

Effects of shrinkage of the visual field through ageing on parking performance: a parametric manipulation of salience and relevance of contextual components

The Master Activation model of attention (Michael, Vairet, and Fernandez, Capture attentionnelle en vision: La saillance, la pertinence, et la balance cortico-sous-corticale. In: G. A. Michael (ed), Neuroscience cognitive de l'attention visuelle [Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Attention], Solal, Marseille, pp. 165–201, 2007; Michael, Lété, and Ducrot, Trajectories of Attentional Development: An Exploration with the Master Activation Map Model, Developmental Psychology, 49:615–631, 2013) was used to study visual attention and driving behaviours of younger and older drivers while parking a car. The salience and the relevance of elements present in the parking environment were manipulated during parking manoeuvres. Different effects on manoeuvring were observed depending on driver characteristics such as age and the extent of the field of view (FV). It was found that the presence of a relevant element, such as a pedestrian, impaired parking performance only among older drivers with a narrower FV. The distinct effects of salience and relevance suggest that they had different statuses in attentional processing of manoeuvring drivers.     

Learning immunology in a game: Learning outcomes,the use of player characters,immersion experiences and visual attention distributions

This study contributed to the current body of literature on game-based learning by investigating the way playing an educational game, Humunology, affected learning about the immune system and examining further the association between game immersion and visual attention distribution. A total of 79 undergraduate and graduate students participated, and data were collected both in situ and ex situ. The results showed that the students learned through playing Humunology, and the analyses of the use of player characters indicated that the game design facilitated gameplay behaviours that are consistent with the science content. The use of the eye-tracking method also revealed that students who were more immersed in playing Humunology paid more attention to areas related to player characters. The interpretations and limitations are discussed further.     

Bond pricing in APL2: A study in numerical solution of the Brennan and Schwartz bond pricing model using a vector processor

This paper is a unification of two earlier papers: the original model of the bond pricing algorithm developed by Foote, Kraemer, and the author [4] and a later paper reported at the Third Supercomputer Conference [5]. This paper briefly discusses the Brennan and Schwartz bond pricing model which was the application studied, presents its finite difference representation and describes three APL2 implementations. Problems in computation are discussed briefly and the three methods for a fixed size grid are compared with and without the IBM 3090 Vector Facility.