782 - WHERE YOU LOOK MATTERS: SPATIAL PUPIL PATTERNS DISTINGUISH VISUAL PREFERENCES

Session: P_D14S001 - Poster Session 1 - Division 14
AUTHORS:
Shigemune Yayoi (Yamaguchi University ~ Yamaguchi ~ Japan) , Midorikawa Akira (Chuo University ~ Hachioji ~ Japan)
Abstract text:
While eye-tracking simultaneously captures both pupil diameter and gaze position information, traditional research has primarily analyzed these measures separately. This study aims to integrate pupil diameter with spatial gaze information to develop a novel approach for examining preference-related pupil responses during evaluation of daily objects. Participants (N=41) viewed daily object images and rated their preference on a 1-7 scale during eye-tracking recording. Images were presented until button press, followed by a 3-second inter-trial fixation. Trials were divided into low preference (1-4) and high preference (5-7) conditions. We calculated overall mean pupil diameter and created pixel-by-pixel maps of mean pupil diameter for each condition during image viewing. While pupil responses involve physiological delays, defining definite delay times is difficult; therefore, we focused on pupil responses during sustained viewing periods until button press without lag correction. This approach is justified because participants evaluated preference by viewing the image and pressed the button, ensuring active processing is reflected in the image area of the map. We computed two-dimensional kurtosis and skewness measures centered on gaze peaks, and conducted Threshold-Free Cluster Enhancement (TFCE) analysis to identify clusters of differential pupil responses. Paired t-tests compared pupil diameter measures between preference conditions. Overall mean pupil diameter and 2D skewness showed no significant differences. However, 2D kurtosis measures demonstrated significantly higher values for high-preference versus low-preference conditions. Conversely, TFCE analysis identified clusters where low-preference conditions elicited greater pupil responses. These results suggest that while overall pupil diameter is larger in low-preference conditions, pupil dilation is spatially more concentrated around attention focus points in high-preference conditions. This spatial approach opens new methodological possibilities for understanding visual preference and other cognitive mechanisms, potentially revealing integrated localized attentional and emotional responses that separate analysis of pupil diameter and gaze position might miss.