Modeling fixation locations using spatial point processes
- Whenever eye movements are measured, a central part of the analysis has to do with where subjects fixate and why they fixated where they fixated. To a first approximation, a set of fixations can be viewed as a set of points in space; this implies that fixations are spatial data and that the analysis of fixation locations can be beneficially thought of as a spatial statistics problem. We argue that thinking of fixation locations as arising from point processes is a very fruitful framework for eye-movement data, helping turn qualitative questions into quantitative ones. We provide a tutorial introduction to some of the main ideas of the field of spatial statistics, focusing especially on spatial Poisson processes. We show how point processes help relate image properties to fixation locations. In particular we show how point processes naturally express the idea that image features' predictability for fixations may vary from one image to another. We review other methods of analysis used in the literature, show how they relate to pointWhenever eye movements are measured, a central part of the analysis has to do with where subjects fixate and why they fixated where they fixated. To a first approximation, a set of fixations can be viewed as a set of points in space; this implies that fixations are spatial data and that the analysis of fixation locations can be beneficially thought of as a spatial statistics problem. We argue that thinking of fixation locations as arising from point processes is a very fruitful framework for eye-movement data, helping turn qualitative questions into quantitative ones. We provide a tutorial introduction to some of the main ideas of the field of spatial statistics, focusing especially on spatial Poisson processes. We show how point processes help relate image properties to fixation locations. In particular we show how point processes naturally express the idea that image features' predictability for fixations may vary from one image to another. We review other methods of analysis used in the literature, show how they relate to point process theory, and argue that thinking in terms of point processes substantially extends the range of analyses that can be performed and clarify their interpretation.…
Author details: | Simon Barthelme, Hans Arne TrukenbrodORCiD, Ralf EngbertORCiDGND, Felix A. WichmannORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1167/13.12.1 |
ISSN: | 1534-7362 |
Title of parent work (English): | Journal of vision |
Publisher: | Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology |
Place of publishing: | Rockville |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2013 |
Publication year: | 2013 |
Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
Tag: | eye movements; fixation locations; modeling; point process; saliency; spatial statistics |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | 12 |
Number of pages: | 34 |
Funding institution: | German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the Bernstein Computational Neuroscience Programs [FKZ 01GQ1001F, FKZ 01GQ1001B, FKZ 01GQ1002] |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Psychologie |