The influence of clutter on search-based learning, long-term memory, and memory-guided attention in real-world scenes: an eye-movement research protocol

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown that visual clutter degrades visual search performance. This performance decrement is also reflected in several eye movement metrics, such as mean fixation duration, scan path length, and first saccade latency. However, whether and if so, how visual clutter might impact other cognitive processes that are important for adaptive functioning, like learning, long-term memory, and attention, remains poorly understood. Here, we present the rationale for the use of a three-stage experimental paradigm combined with eye-tracking to better understand the effects of visual clutter observed in real-world scenes on cognition and eye movement behavior. We also present preliminary behavioral findings on this topic from our lab and discuss areas with significant potential for future research.