Our opinions are affected by what our eyes are focusing on in the same instant we make moral decisions. Researchers at Lund University and other institutions have managed to influence people’s responses to questions such as “is murder defensible?” by tracking their eye movements. When the participants had looked at a randomly pre-selected response long enough, they were asked for an immediate answer. Fifty-eight per cent chose that answer as their moral position.
ICE even has an eye tracking device that is available for students to use for their experiments! Check it out here: TheEyeTribe
Read the complete article from Lund University (and find a link to the full text journal article) here: Moral decisions can be influenced by eye tracking
When it comes to buying things, our brains can’t see the big, black-and-white forest for all the tiny, colorful trees. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which found that people who were shown product images in color were more likely to focus on small product details -- even superfluous ones -- instead of practical concerns such as cost and functionality.
Read the complete article from Ohio State University here: Look, something shiny! How color images can influence consumers
Your brain's ability to instantly link what you see with what you do is down to a dedicated information 'highway,' suggests new research. For the first time, researchers have found evidence of a specialized mechanism for spatial self-awareness that combines visual cues with body motion. The newly-discovered system could explain why some schizophrenia patients feel like their actions are controlled by someone else.
Read the complete article from University College London (and find a link to the full text journal article) here: Human brains ‘hard-wired’ to link what we see with what we do
Bats and dolphins use echolocation to 'see'. As sound waves bounce off of the world around them, these animals can reconstruct an image of their environment. Researchers at Hebrew University have found that individuals born unable to see can be trained to 'see' bodies using soundscapes. In a new study in Current Biology, the scientists first taught the study subjects how to 'see' basic shapes, like lines and dots using musical notes and scales. From there, the researchers began to add complexities, like curves and intersections. After 70 hours of training, the study participants could correctly translate these musical notes into the shape of a human body and imitate the pose. Brain imaging revealed that listening to these soundscapes activated part of the visual cortex devoted to processing body shapes. The scientists have released an app for iPod and iPhone called EyeMusic that also uses different musical instruments to represent colors.
Read the complete article from Science (and find a link to the full text journal article) here: Computer Program Allows the Blind to 'See' With Sound
Many people can “see” their hands in complete darkness, absent any visual stimulus, due to kinesthetic feedback from their own movements.
Read the complete article from The Scientist here: Feeling Is Believing
Elite athletes are not just stronger, faster or more agile than their peers; their visual learning skills are also a cut above.
Jocelyn Faubert from the University of Montreal found that professional football, ice hockey, and rugby players were significantly better than amateurs or non-athletes at processing a fast-moving, complicated scene. And as the three groups practiced, the pros widened their advantage even further.
Read the complete article from The Scientist here:
Athletes Are Champion Visual Learners
