Stuck at the starting line: How the starting procedure influences mouse-tracking data

Persistent avoidance of virtual food in anorexia nervosa-restrictive type: Results from motion tracking in a virtual stopping task

OBJECTIVE

Food avoidance is central to patients with anorexia nervosa-restrictive type (AN-R). Competing accounts in experimental psychopathology research suggest that food avoidance may result from automatic, habitual responses or from elevated inhibitory control abilities. This study investigated behavioral trajectories of food avoidance in a novel virtual reality stopping task.

METHOD

Sixty patients with AN-R and 29 healthy controls with normal weight were investigated using a novel, kinematic task in virtual reality. We recorded spatial displacement in stop- and go-trials to virtual food and control objects. Inhibitory control abilities were operationalized by the VR task in stopping performance (i.e., interrupted movement in stop-trials), whereas we also measured habitual avoidance of virtual food across both go- and stop-trials (i.e., delayed movement relative to nonfood objects).

RESULTS

In patients with AN-R, hand displacements were shorter to food versus nonfood across stop- and go-trials, reflected in a Stimulus × Group interaction. Healthy controls showed no differences. Importantly, the food-specific effect in AN-R was identical across stop- and go-trials, indicating habitual food avoidance. Moreover, stop error rates (i.e., stop-trials with response) were lower in patients with AN-R.

DISCUSSION

The findings suggest food-specific habitual avoidance and heightened generalized inhibitory control in AN-R. The continuously delayed displacements during active hand movements across stop- and go-trials indicated the persistence of patients' avoidance of food.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE

Experimental research investigates the mechanisms underlying mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa. In this study, we measured interrupted hand movements in response to food pictures or neutral pictures (shoes) in patients with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls. A virtual reality scenario was used. Findings indicated that patients were slower at approaching food, interrupted or not. Key mechanisms of food avoidance can be translated into habit-based treatment options in future research.

Evidence for Shifting Cognitive Strategies when Icons Appear in Unexpected Locations

OBJECTIVE

The present study examines the cognitive effects of placing icons in unexpected spatial locations within websites.

BACKGROUND

Prior research has revealed evidence for cognitive conflict when web icons occur in unexpected locations (e.g., cart, top left), generally consistent with a dynamical systems models. Here, we compare the relative strength of evidence for both dual and dynamical systems models.

METHODS

Participants clicked on icons located in either expected (e.g., cart, top right) or unexpected (e.g., cart, top left) locations while mouse trajectories were continuously recorded. Trajectories were classified according to prototypes associated with each cognitive model. The dynamical systems model predicts curved trajectories, while the dual-systems model predicts straight and change of mind trajectories.

RESULTS

Trajectory classification revealed that curved trajectories increased (+11%), while straight and change of mind trajectories decreased (-12%) when target icons occurred in unexpected locations (p < .001).

CONCLUSION

Rather than employing a single cognitive strategy, users shift from a primarily dual-systems to dynamical systems strategy when icons occur in unexpected locations.

APPLICATION

Potential applications of this work include the assessment of cognitive impacts such as mental workload and cognitive conflict during real-time interaction with websites and other screen-based interfaces, personalization and adaptive interfaces based on an individual's cognitive strategy, and data-driven A/B testing of alternative interface designs.

A Dress Is Not a Yes: Towards an Indirect Mouse-Tracking Measure of Men's Overreliance on Global Cues in the Context of Sexual Flirting

Assessing another person's intention to flirt and, relatedly, their sexual interest is based on the interpretation and weighting of global (e.g., clothing style) and specific (e.g., facial expression) cues. Since cue incongruency increases the risk of erroneous judgments and thus can entail undesirable outcomes for both parties involved, detection of an individual propensity for overly relying on global (sexual) rather than specific (affective) cues is of social and clinical-forensic importance. Using a purpose-designed and pre-validated stimulus set, we developed a mouse-tracking task as an indirect behavioral measure for males' overreliance on global cues (OGC) in the context of sexual flirting. In a convenience sample of heterosexual cisgender men (N = 79), experimentally induced sexual arousal was shown to increase the probability of OGC as a function of task difficulty (i.e., congruent or incongruent combinations of global and specific cues displayed by a potential female flirting partner). While error rate and reaction time proved to be indicators of OGC, the spatial measures maximum deviation and area under the curve provided less consistent results. In addition, error rate suggested sex drive and sexual objectification to act as moderators of the relationship between sexual arousal and OGC. Exploratory analysis further revealed a theoretically meaningful pattern of correlations between mouse-tracking measures and self-report measures of problematic (e.g., disinhibited, exploitative) sexuality. Implications of the results are discussed and a framework for differentiating potential causes of OGC (i.e., misperception, lack of self-control, and egocentric hedonism) is proposed.

Focusing on Future Consequences Enhances Self-Controlled Dietary Choices

Self-controlled dietary decisions, i.e., choosing a healthier food over a tastier one, are a major challenge for many people. Despite the potential profound consequences of frequent poor choices, maintaining a healthy diet proves challenging. This raises the question of how to facilitate self-controlled food decisions to promote healthier choices. The present study compared the influence of implicit and explicit information on food choices and their underlying decision processes. Participants watched two video clips as an implicit manipulation to induce different mindsets. Instructions to focus on either the short-term or long-term consequences of choices served as an explicit manipulation. Participants performed a binary food choice task, including foods with different health and taste values. The choice was made using a computer mouse, whose trajectories we used to calculate the influence of the food properties. Instruction to focus on long-term consequences compared to short-term consequences increased the number of healthy choices, reduced response times for healthy decisions, and increased the influence of health aspects during the decision-making process. The effect of video manipulation showed greater variability. While focusing on long-term consequences facilitated healthy food choices and reduced the underlying decision conflict, the current mindset appeared to have a minor influence.

Playing with temptation: Stopping abilities to chocolate are superior, but also more extensive

Cue-specific inhibitory control is assumed to support balanced food intake, but previous studies with established measures showed inconsistent results. We developed a novel kinematic stop task in virtual reality (VR) and report results from trajectory recordings. The primary objective of this explorative study was to assess the interrelationships between validated measures of food-related inhibitory control and novel measures from the VR task. We hypothesized that healthy female participants show worse inhibitory control when grasping attractive virtual chocolate, compared to non-edible color-and-shape matched objects. We further aimed to quantify the construct validity of kinematic measures (e.g., reaching extent/spatial displacement, movement time after stop-signal, velocity) with established measures of inhibitory control in a keyboard-based adaptive stop-signal task (SST). In total, 79 females with varying levels of chocolate craving participated in an experimental study consisting of self-report questionnaires, subjective chocolate craving, the conventional SST and the kinematic task in VR. Results showed superior stopping ability to chocolate in both tasks. In VR, participants successfully interrupted an initiated approach trajectory but terminated slightly closer to chocolate targets. Stop-signal delay (SSD) was adapted relative to movement onset and appeared later in chocolate trials, during which participants still stopped faster, as was also confirmed by shorter stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) in the conventional task. Yet, SSRT did not correlate with stopping in VR. Moreover, SSRT was related to depressive symptoms whereas measures from VR were related to chocolate craving and subjective hunger. Thus, VR stopping can provide deeper insights into healthy weight individuals' capacity to inhibit cue-specific approach behavior towards appetitive stimuli in simulated interactions. Furthermore, the results support a multi-faceted view of food-specific inhibitory control and behavioral impulsivity.

Continuous cursor-captured conceptual competition: Investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of spoken word comprehension

Semantically related concepts are coactivated during spoken word comprehension. Two internet-mediated cursor-tracking experiments examined the spatiotemporal dynamics of this coactivation. Participants viewed visual arrays containing images of a target (e.g., accordion) and a semantically related (e.g., banjo) or unrelated (e.g., plum) distractor whilst hearing the target word (e.g., "accordion"). Participants were tasked with moving their cursor from the bottom of the visual array to the target in one of the upper corners. In contrast to Experiment 1, the onset of stimulus presentation was triggered by cursor movement in Experiment 2. Across both experiments, temporal (e.g., RT) and spatial (e.g., AUC) measures revealed significantly greater attraction to images of semantically related compared with unrelated distractors. These results reveal that online cursor-tracking methods are sensitive to semantic competition and suitable for studying the activation of semantic knowledge during language comprehension.

A mouse-tracking study of the composite nature of the Stroop effect at the level of response execution

By forcing selection into response execution processes, the present mouse-tracking study investigated whether the ongoing process of response selection in the colour-word Stroop task is influenced by conflict and facilitation at both the level of response and stimulus. Mouse-tracking measures including partial errors provided credible evidence that both response and semantic conflict (i.e., distinct constituents of interference) contribute to the overall Stroop interference effect even after a response has been initiated. This contribution was also observed for the overall facilitation effect (that was credibly decomposed into response and semantic components in response times but not in mouse deviation measures). These results run counter to the dominant single-stage response competition models that currently fail to explain: 1) the expression of Stroop effects in measures of response execution and; 2) the composite nature of both interference and facilitation. By showing that Stroop effects-originating from multiple levels of processing-can cascade into movement parameters, the present study revealed the potential overlap between selection and execution process. It therefore calls for further theoretical efforts to account for when, where and under what conditions Stroop effects originating from different loci are controlled.

The action dynamics of approach-avoidance conflict during decision-making

Approach-avoidance conflict is observed in the competing motivations towards the benefits and away from the costs of a decision. The current study investigates the action dynamics of response motion during such conflicts in an attempt to characterise their dynamic resolution. An approach-avoidance conflict was generated by varying the appetitive consequences of a decision (i.e., point rewards and shorter participation time) in the presence of simultaneous aversive consequences (i.e., shock probability). Across two experiments, approach-avoidance conflict differentially affected response trajectories. Approach trajectories were less complex than avoidance trajectories and, as approach and avoidance motivations neared equipotentiality, response trajectories were more deflected from the shortest route to the eventual choice. Consistency in the location of approach and avoidance response options reduced variability in performance enabling more sensitive estimates of dynamic conflict. The time course of competing influences on response trajectories including trial-to-trial effects and conflict between approach and avoidance were estimated using regression analyses. We discuss these findings in terms of a dynamic theory of approach-avoidance that we hope will lead to insights of practical relevance in the field of maladaptive avoidance.

Effects of conflict in cognitive control: Evidence from mouse tracking

It has long been debated whether the "congruency sequence effect (CSE)" in conflict tasks such as Flanker could reflect adaptive control. The current study used "mouse tracking" to tackle the issue in a combination of three conflict tasks (i.e., Flanker, Simon, and Spatial Stroop tasks). Congruency effects from previous and current trials emerged in latencies as well as curvature of movement trajectories in all three tasks. Critically, movement initiation times were affected only by congruency on previous but not on current trials. A further analysis showed that even when initiation time on the previous trials was taken into account, a subtle but highly significant effect of conflict arising from trial N-1 on initiation times remained. Although not necessarily implying "conflict adaptation," i.e., a dynamic up- and downregulation of cognitive control in response to a recent conflict, our finding indicates a specific sensitivity to the presence or absence of recent "conflict" in the cognitive environment.

Making decisions about health information on social media: a mouse-tracking study

Health misinformation is a problem on social media, and more understanding is needed about how users cognitively process it. In this study, participants’ accuracy in determining whether 60 health claims were true (e.g., “Vaccines prevent disease outbreaks”) or false (e.g., “Vaccines cause disease outbreaks”) was assessed. The 60 claims were related to three domains of health risk behavior (i.e., smoking, alcohol and vaccines). Claims were presented as Tweets or as simple text statements. We employed mouse tracking to measure reaction times, whether processing happens in discrete stages, and response uncertainty. We also examined whether health literacy was a moderating variable. The results indicate that information in statements and tweets is evaluated incrementally most of the time, but with overrides happening on some trials. Adequate health literacy scorers were equally certain when responding to tweets and statements, but they were more accurate when responding to tweets. Inadequate scorers were more confident on statements than on tweets but equally accurate on both. These results have important implications for understanding the underlying cognition needed to combat health misinformation online.

Motor demands influence conflict processing in a mouse-tracking Simon task

Previous studies have shown incorrect motor activation when making perceptual decisions under conflict, but the potential involvement of motor processes in conflict resolution is still unclear. The present study tested whether the effects of distracting information may be reduced when anticipated motor processing demands increase. Specifically, across two mouse-tracking Simon experiments, we manipulated blockwise motor demands (high vs. low) by requiring participants to move a mouse cursor to either large versus small (Experiment 1) or near versus far (Experiment 2) response boxes presented on the screen. We reasoned that participants would increase action control in blocks with high versus low motor demands and that this would reduce the distracting effect of location-based activation. The results support this hypothesis: Simon effects were reduced under high versus low motor demands and this modulation held even when controlling for time-varying fluctuations in distractor-based activation via distributional analyses (i.e., delta plots). Thus, the present findings indicate that anticipation of different motor costs can influence conflict processing. We propose that the competition between distractor-based and target-based activation is biased at premotor and/or motor stages in anticipation of motor demands, but also discuss alternative implementations of action control.

Moving beyond response times with accessible measures of manual dynamics

Button-press measures of response time (RT) and accuracy have long served a central role in psychological research. However, RT and accuracy provide limited insight into how cognitive processes unfold over time. To address this limitation, researchers have used hand-tracking techniques to investigate how cognitive processes unfold over the course of a response, are modulated by recent experience, and function across the lifespan. Despite the efficacy of these techniques for investigating a wide range of psychological phenomena, widespread adoption of hand-tracking techniques within the field is hindered by a range of factors, including equipment costs and the use of specialized software. Here, we demonstrate that the behavioral dynamics previously observed with specialized motion-tracking equipment in an Eriksen flanker task can be captured with an affordable, portable, and easy-to-assemble response box. Six-to-eight-year-olds and adults (N = 90) completed a computerized version of the flanker task by pressing and holding a central button until a stimulus array appeared. Participants then responded by releasing the central button and reaching to press one of two response buttons. This method allowed RT to be separated into initiation time (when the central button was released) and movement time (time elapsed between initiation and completion of the response). Consistent with previous research using motion-tracking techniques, initiation times and movement times revealed distinct patterns of effects across trials and between age groups, indicating that the method used in the current study presents a simple solution for researchers from across the psychological and brain sciences looking to move beyond RTs.

Dissociating sub-processes of aftereffects of completed intentions and costs to the ongoing task in prospective memory: A mouse-tracking approach

In the present study, we used mouse tracking to investigate two processes underlying prospective memory (PM) retrieval: First, we aimed to explore to what extent spontaneous retrieval of already completed PM intentions is supported by reflexive-associative and discrepancy-plus-search processes. Second, we aimed to disentangle whether costs to an ongoing task during the pursuit of a PM intention are associated with presumably resource-demanding monitoring processes or with a presumably resource-sparing strategic delay of ongoing-task responses. Our third aim was to explore the interaction of processes underlying costs to the ongoing task and processes of spontaneous retrieval. Our analyses replicated response-time patterns from previous studies indicating aftereffects of completed intentions and costs to ongoing-task performance, as well as increased aftereffects while pursuing a PM intention. Notably, based on our mouse-tracking analyses, we argue that aftereffects of completed intentions are best explained by a reflexive initiation of an already completed intention. If the completed intention is not performed in its entirety (i.e., no commission error), the reflexive initiation of the completed intention is followed by a subsequent movement correction that most likely represents a time-consuming response-verification process. Regarding performance costs in the ongoing task, our analyses suggest that actively pursuing a PM intention most likely leads to a strategic delay of ongoing activities. Lastly, we found that pursuing a novel PM task after intention completion exacerbated orienting responses to all deviant stimuli, exacerbated the readiness to initiate the completed intention reflexively, and substantially prolonged the response-verification process following this reflexive intention retrieval.

The Specificity and Reliability of Conflict Adaptation: A Mouse-Tracking Study

Researchers have recently begun to question the specificity and reliability of conflict adaptation effects, also known as sequential congruency effects (SCEs), a highly cited effect in cognitive psychology. Some have even used the lack of reliability across tasks (e.g., Flanker, and Stroop) to argue against models of cognitive control that have dominated the field for decades. The present study tested the possibility that domain-general processes across tasks might appear on more sensitive mouse-tracking metrics rather than overall reaction times. The relationship between SCE effects on the Stroop and Flanker tasks were examined for the first time using a mouse-tracking paradigm. Three main findings emerged: (1) Robust SCEs were observed for both the Stroop and Flanker tasks at the group level, (2) Within-task split-half reliabilities for the SCE across dependent variables were weak at best and non-existent in many cases, and (3) SCEs for the Flanker and Stroop tasks did not correlate with each other for overall reaction times, but did show significant correlations between tasks on more dynamic measures that captured processes before response execution. These findings contribute to the literature by highlighting how mouse-tracking may be a fruitful avenue by which future studies can examine the specificity and reliability of conflict adaptation and tease apart different theoretical models producing the effects.

The dynamics of decision-making and action during active sampling

Embodied Cognition Theories (ECTs) of decision-making propose that the decision process pervades the execution of choice actions and manifests itself in these actions. Decision-making scenarios where actions not only express the choice but also help sample information can provide a valuable, ecologically relevant model for this framework. We present a study to address this paradigmatic situation in humans. Subjects categorized (2AFC task) a central object image, blurred to different extents, by moving a cursor toward the left or right of the display. Upward cursor movements reduced the image blur and could be used to sample information. Thus, actions for decision and actions for sampling were orthogonal to each other. We analyzed response trajectories to test whether information-sampling movements co-occurred with the ongoing decision process. Trajectories were bimodally distributed, with one kind being direct towards one response option (non-sampling), and the other kind containing an initial upward component before veering off towards an option (sampling). This implies that there was an initial decision at the early stage of a trial, whether to sample information or not. Importantly, in sampling trials trajectories were not purely upward, but rather had a significant horizontal deviation early on. This result suggests that movements to sample information exhibit an online interaction with the decision process, therefore supporting the prediction of the ECTs under ecologically relevant constrains.

Motor adaptation is promoted by an incongruent Stroop task, but not by a congruent Stroop task

Motor adaptation plays an important role in the acquisition of new motor skills. It has been reported that cognitive tasks can promote motor adaptation; however, which cognitive tasks effectively promote motor adaptation remains unknown. This study aimed to examine what factors of cognitive tasks contribute to promoting motor adaptation. Forty-two healthy young adults were randomly assigned to one of three groups: incongruent Stroop task group (iSTG), congruent Stroop task group (cSTG), and control group (CG). All participants underwent 20 blocks of a mouse-tracking task on the 1st and 2nd days. Before the mouse tracking task on the 1st day, the iSTG and cSTG completed the incongruent and congruent Stroop tasks, respectively. Participants in the CG did not perform any cognitive tasks. On the 28th day, all participants underwent 3 blocks of the mouse tracking task to evaluate their retention of motor adaptation. As a result, on the 1st day, the mouse tracking task performance improved equally for both groups. However, on the 2nd and 28th days, the mouse tracking task performance in the iSTG showed greater improvements for all blocks compared to those in the CG. These results suggest that the incongruent Stroop task promotes motor adaptation, but the congruent Stroop task does not. In addition, it is suggested that factors, which are primarily involved in the incongruent Stroop task, might promote motor adaptation.

Using mouse cursor tracking to investigate online cognition: Preserving methodological ingenuity while moving toward reproducible science

Mouse cursor tracking has become a prominent method for characterizing cognitive processes, used in a wide variety of domains of psychological science. Researchers have demonstrated considerable ingenuity in the application of the approach, but the methodology has not undergone systematic analysis to facilitate the development of best practices. Furthermore, recent research has demonstrated effects of experimental design features on a number of mousetracking outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of the mouse-tracking literature to survey the reporting and spread of mouse variables (Cursor speed, Sampling rate, Training), physical characteristics of the experiments (Stimulus position, Response box position) and response requirements (Start procedure, Response procedure, Response deadline). This survey reveals that there is room for improvement in reporting practices, especially of subtler design features that researchers may have assumed would not impact research results (e.g., Cursor speed). We provide recommendations for future best practices in mouse-tracking studies and consider how best to standardize the mouse-tracking literature without excessively constraining the methodological flexibility that is essential to the field.

Design choices: Empirical recommendations for designing two-dimensional finger-tracking experiments

The continuous tracking of mouse or finger movements has become an increasingly popular research method for investigating cognitive and motivational processes such as decision-making, action-planning, and executive functions. In the present paper, we evaluate and discuss how apparently trivial design choices of researchers may impact participants' behavior and, consequently, a study's results. We first provide a thorough comparison of mouse- and finger-tracking setups on the basis of a Simon task. We then vary a comprehensive set of design factors, including spatial layout, movement extent, time of stimulus onset, size of the target areas, and hit detection in a finger-tracking variant of this task. We explore the impact of these variations on a broad spectrum of movement parameters that are typically used to describe movement trajectories. Based on our findings, we suggest several recommendations for best practice that avoid some of the pitfalls of the methodology. Keeping these recommendations in mind will allow for informed decisions when planning and conducting future tracking experiments.

A 'no' with a trace of 'yes': A mouse-tracking study of negative sentence processing

There is strong evidence that comprehenders can parse sentences in an incremental fashion. However, when the sentence contains a negation, the evidence is less clear. Previous work has shown that increasing the pragmatic felicity of a negative sentence reduces or eliminates any processing overhead relative to affirmative sentences. However, in previous work felicity has gone hand-in-hand with the predictability of critical material in a sentence. In three experiments reported here, we presented equally felicitous sentences with critical material of varying predictability (operationalised as the number of possible completions) to test whether this might be a critical factor determining the ease with which partial sentences containing a negation are interpreted. Participants completed a truth-value judgement task (Experiment 1) or a sentence completion task (Experiments 2 and 3) after viewing a visual environment that provided the context for a test sentence, which could differ in truth value (in Experiment 1 only), polarity (affirmative or negative), and number of possible completions (one, two, or three). In all three experiments, we recorded response times and accuracy, but also response dynamics via participants' computer mouse trajectories, allowing us to test specific hypotheses about the time course of comprehension. Across all experiments, in conditions with one or two possible targets, we observed consistent detrimental effects of negative polarity, suggesting that the difficulty in processing negation cannot be reduced to effects relating to predictability or pragmatic felicity. We discuss this finding in relation to incremental and two-stage models of processing and outline a new account of the processing difficulty arising from negation in terms of a conflict between what is locally activated on the basis of individual words and phrases and the global meaning of a negative sentence.

Psychometrics of the continuous mind: Measuring cognitive sub-processes via mouse tracking

The measurement of psychological properties often relies on discrete measures, for example, answers in questionnaires or responses in tasks. This focus on discrete measures neglects information that is present in the process leading to an answer or a response. A method to trace such processes is mouse tracking. Mouse tracking promises to open a continuous window onto the processes leading from a stimulus to a response. However, most mouse-tracking studies fall short of the promise to extract dynamic psychometrically valid markers for the different sub-processes, which are intertwined on the way to the final response. Here we used time-continuous multiple regression (TCMR) to extract dynamic markers for the different sub-processes leading to a response. From these markers, we extracted information about the timing, the duration, and the strength of the influence of the different sub-processes. We evaluated these dynamic measures of sub-processes for their psychometric properties, i.e. reliability, which is a basis for their use in the study of individual differences. Furthermore, we applied these dynamic measures in a group-level study to identify differences in the sub-processes of resolving response conflict between groups performing either a Simon or a flanker task. We found specific temporal patterns that match predictions from a conceptual model of these tasks. We concluded that the extracted information from mouse movements could be used as psychometrically valid dynamic measures of psychological properties and their differences across individuals and situations.A software toolbox to perform the described analyses in Matlab is provided (osf.io/5e3vn).

Lost to translation: How design factors of the mouse-tracking procedure impact the inference from action to cognition

From an embodiment perspective, action and cognition influence each other constantly. This interaction has been utilized in mouse-tracking studies to infer cognitive states from movements, assuming a continuous manifestation of cognitive processing into movement. However, it is mostly unknown how this manifestation is affected by the variety of possible design choices in mouse-tracking paradigms. Here we studied how three design factors impact the manifestation of cognition into movement in a Simon task with mouse tracking. We varied the response selection (i.e., with or without clicking), the ratio between hand and mouse cursor movement, and the location of the response boxes. The results show that all design factors can blur or even prevent the manifestation of cognition into movement, as reflected by a reduction in movement consistency and action dynamics, as well as by the adoption of unsuitable movement strategies. We conclude that deliberate and careful design choices in mouse-tracking experiments are crucial to ensuring a continuous manifestation of cognition in movement. We discuss the importance of developing a standard practice in the design of mouse-tracking experiments.

Computer mouse tracking reveals motor signatures in a cognitive task of spatial language grounding

In a novel computer mouse tracking paradigm, participants read a spatial phrase such as "The blue item to the left of the red one" and then see a scene composed of 12 visual items. The task is to move the mouse cursor to the target item (here, blue), which requires perceptually grounding the spatial phrase. This entails visually identifying the reference item (here, red) and other relevant items through attentional selection. Response trajectories are attracted toward distractors that share the target color but match the spatial relation less well. Trajectories are also attracted toward items that share the reference color. A competing pair of items that match the specified colors but are in the inverse spatial relation increases attraction over-additively compared to individual items. Trajectories are also influenced by the spatial term itself. While the distractor effect resembles deviation toward potential targets in previous studies, the reference effect suggests that the relevance of the reference item for the relational task, not its role as a potential target, was critical. This account is supported by the strengthened effect of a competing pair. We conclude, therefore, that the attraction effects in the mouse trajectories reflect the neural processes that operate on sensorimotor representations to solve the relational task. The paradigm thus provides an experimental window through motor behavior into higher cognitive function and the evolution of activation in modal substrates, a longstanding topic in the area of embodied cognition.

Pragmatic processing: An investigation of the (anti-)presuppositions of determiners using mouse-tracking

A presupposition is a condition that has to be met in order for a linguistic expression to be appropriate. The definite determiner (as in the banana) triggers the uniqueness-presupposition that there is a uniquely identifiable banana in the relevant discourse context. The indefinite determiner (as in a banana) is similarly associated with anti-uniqueness (that there are several bananas). Application of the Maximize Presupposition principle to the indefinite determiner suggests that this latter effect results indirectly as an anti-presupposition from considering the uniqueness-presupposition of the definite determiner, which is then negated. This results in increased processing difficulty. We utilized mouse-tracking to compare processing of definite and indefinite determiners when used felicitously and infelicitously in a particular context. First, processing of the indefinite determiner was associated with more processing difficulties compared with the definite determiner. Second, we also observed evidence for an initial temporary activation and evaluation of the uniqueness-presupposition, just as derived from anti-presupposition theory and the Maximize Presupposition principle.

Beyond reach: Do symmetric changes in motor costs affect decision making? A registered report

Executing an important decision can be as easy as moving a mouse cursor or reaching towards the preferred option with a hand. But would we decide differently if choosing required walking a few steps towards an option? More generally, is our preference invariant to the means and motor costs of reporting it? Previous research demonstrated that asymmetric motor costs can nudge the decision-maker towards a less costly option. However, virtually all traditional decision-making theories predict that increasing motor costs symmetrically for all options should not affect choice in any way. This prediction is disputed by the theory of embodied cognition, which suggests that motor behavior is an integral part of cognitive processes, and that motor costs can affect our choices. In this registered report, we investigated whether varying motor costs can affect response dynamics and the final choices in an intertemporal choice task: choosing between a readily available small reward and a larger but delayed reward. Our study compared choices reported by moving a computer mouse cursor towards the preferred option with the choices executed via a more motor costly walking procedure. First, we investigated whether relative values of the intertemporal choice options affect walking trajectories in the same way as they affect mouse cursor dynamics. Second, we tested a hypothesis that, in the walking condition, increased motor costs of a preference reversal would decrease the number of changes-of-mind and therefore increase the proportion of impulsive, smaller-but-sooner choices. We confirmed the hypothesis that walking trajectories reflect covert dynamics of decision making, and rejected the hypothesis that increased motor costs of responding affect decisions in an intertemporal choice task. Overall, this study contributes to the empirical basis enabling the decision-making theories to address the complex interplay between cognitive and motor processes.

Design factors in mouse-tracking: What makes a difference?

Investigating cognitive processes by analyzing mouse movements has become a popular method in many psychological disciplines. When creating mouse-tracking experiments, researchers face many design choices-for example, whether participants indicate responses by clicking a button or just by entering the button area. Hitherto, numerous different settings have been employed, but little is known about how these methodological differences affect mouse-tracking data. We systematically investigated the influences of three central design factors, using a classic mouse-tracking paradigm in which participants classified typical and atypical exemplars. In separate experiments, we manipulated the response indication, mouse sensitivity, and starting procedure. The core finding that mouse movements deviate more toward the nonchosen option for atypical exemplars was replicated in all conditions. However, the size of this effect varied. Specifically, it was larger when participants indicated responses via click and when they were instructed to initialize the movement early. Trajectory shapes also differed between setups. For example, a dynamic start led to mostly curved trajectories, responses via click led to a mix of straight and "change-of-mind" trajectories, and responses via touch led to mostly straight trajectories. Moreover, the distribution of curvature indices was classified as bimodal in some setups and as unimodal in others. Because trajectory curvature and shape are frequently used to make inferences about psychological theories, such as differentiating between dynamic and dual-system models, this study shows that the specific design must be carefully considered when drawing theoretical inferences. All methodological designs and analyses were implemented using open-source software and are available from https://osf.io/xdp7a/.

Retrieval dynamics of recognition and rejection

Recognition memory is often viewed as the end-product of discrete cognitive events, involving the combination of latent operations such as the assessment of memory strength, the decision time, and the memory judgement. Recently, researchers have begun using the physical dynamics of memory retrieval to provide insight into the dynamic, possibly non-discrete, processes that underlie memory decisions. In this study, the underlying distributional properties of targets and lures were manipulated by populating lists with items drawn from either homogeneous or heterogeneous word frequency and context variability ranges. In all conditions, participants' x-, y-mouse coordinates were recorded as they processed test items, allowing estimates of response dynamics (e.g., initial deviation and area under the curve [AUC]), and eventual old/new responses. The stimulus manipulations affected the distribution shapes and, to a greater degree, the placements of subjective confidence thresholds. We observed tight correspondences between confidence and AUC for both hits and correct rejections. We interpret these results within dynamic models of recognition memory.

Response dynamics of event-based prospective memory retrieval in mouse tracking

Prospective memory (PM) is typically measured using keypresses in laboratory paradigms, which therefore assess only discrete, stage-like processes. In the present study we manipulated focal and nonfocal PM cue conditions, as well as participants' focus on different aspects of the PM/ongoing task set, using the methodology to capture dynamic computer mouse movements. The software captured mouse trajectories during lexical decisions and PM responses. We replicated many findings typical in the PM literature, including the accuracy advantage for focal over nonfocal conditions and longer ongoing-task response times for nonfocal conditions. Participants' movement trajectories during PM responses revealed evidence for both spontaneous-retrieval and strategic-monitoring processes in focal and nonfocal PM retrieval conditions. During trials suggestive of spontaneous retrieval, mouse trajectories initially went toward the typical ongoing-task response but turned mid-trajectory toward the PM response field on the opposite side of the computer screen. In nonfocal conditions, these trajectory reversals had a wider arc and took longer to complete, reflecting the likely greater retrospective retrieval requirements of nonfocal conditions. Regarding what are more likely to be strategic-monitoring processes, a significant portion of responses traveled directly to the PM response field, as though people were prepared to make such a response.