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Using Eye-Tracking to Study how Belief-Reasoning Processes Change Across the Lifespan.

Bradford, Elisabeth E.F., Brunsdon, Victoria E.A., Ferguson, Heather J. (2017) Using Eye-Tracking to Study how Belief-Reasoning Processes Change Across the Lifespan. In: 19th European Conference on Eye-Movements, 20-24th August 2017, Wuppertal, Germany. (Unpublished) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:62412)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)

Abstract

This study explored how efficiently younger (18-30 years) and older (65-80 years) adults compute belief-states of the ‘Self’ and ‘Other’. Using a computerised false-belief task, participants were shown a container with expected (e.g., sugar in a sugar jar) or unexpected (e.g., marbles in a sugar jar) contents inside. Following contents revelation, participants heard an audio question asking them to consider what either they themselves (‘Self’) or another person (‘Other’) had believed to be within the container, before seeing inside. Three images then appeared on screen: the correct answer (‘sugar’), a distracter (‘marbles’), and a novel filler item. Eye-tracking analysis revealed that, compared to younger adults, older adults took longer to disengage from the ‘distracter’ object (i.e., the object they know to actually be held in the container), in order to focus on the correct belief-state object, suggesting egocentric processing of the scenario. Behavioural results reflected this: older adults were slower and less accurate than younger adults when attributing beliefs to other people. Results suggest that different strategies are utilized across the lifespan when considering the perspectives of the ‘Self’ versus ‘Other’, and indicate that reductions in the ability to inhibit the knowledgeable egocentric viewpoint may influence social communication skills.

Item Type: Conference or workshop item (Speech)
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Funders: [UNSPECIFIED] European Research Council
Depositing User: Lizzie Bradford
Date Deposited: 27 Jul 2017 14:55 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2021 13:47 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/62412 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Bradford, Elisabeth E.F..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7647-0891
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Brunsdon, Victoria E.A..

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Ferguson, Heather J..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1575-4820
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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