How Our Eyes Choose What to Focus On While Learning New Skills
People's eyes tend to move toward certain spots when learning new tasks. These spots can be important for getting information or for getting rewards.
The Experiment
Researchers wanted to see how well people could guess if they would succeed or fail at a task. They also wanted to see if this guess would change where people looked.
In an experiment, people threw balls at targets. After each throw, they saw feedback about how well they did. They also saw how much money they could win. The researchers tracked where people looked after each throw.
Findings
- Feedback Focus: Some people looked more at the feedback.
- Reward Focus: Others looked more at the reward.
- Adaptive Behavior: Everyone's looking habits changed a bit based on how well they did.
- Missed Throws: If they missed a throw, they looked more at the feedback next time.
- Expected Hits: If they thought they would hit the target, they looked more at the reward.
Implications
This shows that people use past experiences and guesses about the future to decide where to look. But their personal habits still play a big role. So, while predictions matter, they don't completely override individual differences.
The study highlights how complex eye movements can be. It's not just about what's in front of us. It's also about what we expect and what we value. This can help us understand how people learn and make decisions.