The Influence of Social Attention in Eye Movement Modelling Examples

Abstract

In Eye Movement Modeling Examples (EMME) are a model’s eye movements displayed on a video. This can create joint attention and guide learners’ attention to the right information at the right time. However, it is not yet clear if the effectiveness of EMME is driven by just visual guidance or that the displayed eye movements have a social value. Research suggests that visual cues can affect performance when people believe it indicates another person (Gobel, Tufft, & Richardson, 2018). This study aimed to investigate the role of social attention in EMME for learning procedural problem-solving skills. In this experiment, 52 secondary education students were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions an EMME with a social cue, EMME without a social cue, or a regular VME. Students had to study modelling examples and solve several geometry problems. Results showed no significant differences in performance between the conditions. Suggesting that social attention might not play a role in EMME and that EMME might not even be effective for learning procedural problem-solving tasks.