A Field Dependence-Independence Perspective on Eye Gaze Behavior within Affective Activities

Evidence suggests that human cognitive differences affect users’ visual behavior within various tasks and activities. However, a human cognitive processing perspective on the interplay between visual and affective aspects remains up-to-date understudied. In this paper, we aim to investigate this relationship by adopting an accredited cognitive style framework (Field Dependence-Independence – FD-I) and provide empirical evidence on main interaction effects between human cognition and emotional processing towards eye gaze behavior. For doing so, we designed and implemented an eye tracking study (n = 22) in which participants were initially classified according to their FD-I cognitive processing characteristics, and were further exposed to a series of images, which triggered specific emotional valence. Analysis of results yield that affective images had a different effect on FD and FI users in terms of visual information exploration time and comprehension, which was reflected on eye gaze metrics. Findings highlight a hidden and rather unexplored effect between human cognition and emotions towards eye gaze behavior, which could lead to a more holistic and comprehensive approach in affective computing.