Cognitive Workload and the Motor Component of Visual Attention

Outside the laboratory, the ability to control visual input during multiple task performance by controlling where the eyes look and when is an obvious component of multiple task performance. However, inside the laboratory researchers either obviate the control of the eyes by presenting information from one task at a time or are oblivious to the need for just-intime control of the motor component of visual attention. We investigate the effects of cognitive workload on eye movements in a paradigm that controls the demand on the eyes as an input channel while increasing workload by increasing the demand on working memory. Despite constant visual demands, we find that fixations become more scattered with increasing working memory load.