Investigating the cognitive loads involved in searching hierarchical menus using eyeblinking as an index
Takashi Matsuo · The Japanese Journal of Cognitive Psychology · 2008
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cognitive load involved in searching hierarchical menus on a computer display by eyeblinks as an index.The participants were given the task of searching WWW pages created for the experimental purposes according to a predetermined order.Two experimental conditions were prepared.One condition required participants to self select a location to follow, while the other simply required the participants to click on the "NEXT" icon.The results indicate that there were no di#erences between the two conditions.Eyeblinks were suppressed, however, when menu items were selected and this was followed by a burst of eyeblink.This phenomenon would seem to be related to cognitive load.The eyeblinking indicates that there are cognitive loads involved in sequential searching of hierarchical menus.