Illustrations by Z Comer Included in New Psychology Study
Animal Friends Stimuli is a collaborative project between McCoy Associate Professor Z Comer and Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Charles Doan. This project uses illustrated stimuli in cognitive tasks assessing how humans extract/utilize relational information in their environment. In other words, the stimuli help increase our understanding of how humans form and utilize concepts.
Dr. Doan explains “We have conducted many studies with more abstract stimuli with adults, and we are now looking for more concrete stimuli for use with children. However, we would also like to use the stimuli with college-aged adults so that we may compare performance across the different developmental populations. “ This unique challenge lead to the development of “Kenny the Bat”, a simple vector style image that is easily recognizable and has wide use and appeal. Professor Zerbe-Comer developed 16 variables for “Kenny the Bat” to be used in Dr. Doan’s research.
“We are currently working to extend our research stream and comparisons to individuals diagnosed with ASD or ADHD. Ultimately, these stimuli and their use in our cognitive tasks could also prove helpful in identifying individuals belonging to these neurodivergent populations.” Dr. Doan said in regards to implementation of his new study.
Below are “Heat Maps” associated with Eye-tracking behavior whereby green dots indicate fixations (focusing of the eyes) and areas that are somewhat attended. Yellow dots indicate slightly more time focusing in that area, and red dots indicate the most time focusing in an area.
Below are “Fixation and Saccade Plots” associated with Eye-tracking behavior whereby each circle represents a unique fixation and the larger the circle, the more time spent focusing at that location during that time period. Each unique color of dot represents a different participant (adolescent) and the lines between the dots represent saccades (movements between fixations).
