Peripheral vision and crowding in mental maze-solving

Yelda Semizer, Dian Yu, Ruth Rosenholtz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Solving a maze effectively relies on both perception and cognition. Studying maze-solving behavior contributes to our knowledge about these important processes. Through psychophysical experiments and modeling simulations, we examine the role of peripheral vision, specifically visual crowding in the periphery, in mental maze-solving. Experiment 1 measured gaze patterns while varying maze complexity, revealing a direct relationship between visual complexity and maze-solving efficiency. Simulations of the maze-solving task using a peripheral vision model confirmed the observed crowding effects while making an intriguing prediction that saccades provide a conservative measure of how far ahead observers can perceive the path. Experiment 2 confirms that observers can judge whether a point lies on the path at considerably greater distances than their average saccade. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that peripheral vision plays a key role in mental maze-solving.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Vision
Volume24
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Ophthalmology
  • Sensory Systems

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Peripheral vision and crowding in mental maze-solving'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this