title: Attention deployment during memorizing and executing complex instructions.
abstract: We investigated the mental rehearsal of complex action instructions by recording spontaneous eye movements of healthy adults as they looked at objects on a monitor. Participants heard consecutive instructions, each of the form "move [object] to [location]". Instructions were only to be executed after a go signal, by manipulating all objects successively with a mouse. Participants re-inspected previously mentioned objects already while listening to further instructions. This rehearsal behavior broke down after 4 instructions, coincident with participants' instruction span, as determined from subsequent execution accuracy. These results suggest that spontaneous eye movements while listening to instructions predict their successful execution.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK. j.k.apel@dundee.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jens K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Apel
authors.forename: Gavin F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Revie
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cangelosi
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goslin
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult