Quantitative measurements of cognitive processing involved with gaze fixations

Studying eye movement has proven to be useful in the study of users and interfaces. Cognitive processing can be inferred by the length of time a user fixates on certain elements of the screen as well as the number of fixations on each element of the display. Our research looks to expand on this with the addition of neurophysiological measurements to quantify cognitive processing and ascertain whether increased fixations on differential element placements on a display alter cognitive processing. Results indicate that placements of the main and secondary menus do alter the number of fixations required for task completion. The number of fixations were also shown to be related to sustained attentional processes. Our preliminary results indicate that the addition of neurophysiological measurements corroborate and expand on theories of fixation counts.