Eye Tracking Project 

TEAM: 

Phi Theta Kappa Honors In Action Team

Danbee Chae- dchae@me.bergen.edu  

MENTOR: 

Angie Goldszmidtz, Dr. Coleen DiLauro 

BLOG:

January 2, 2020 - Danbee Chae 

All of the technical aspect of our project was completed before winter break, so our goal during the internship was to collect data from more subjects to reach our goal of 150 subjects. 

January 3, 2020 - Danbee Chae 

All subjects were calibrated to the Gazepoint eye-tracker, before being assigned randomly to one of three groups. Our graphic design team created four videos in total, all with a negative connotation. Every group would watch two videos, followed by a vote for either candidate or neither, and the reasons why. Participants were supplied with noise-canceling headphones and were seated in a controlled environment to minimize external factors.The first group contained the two control videos, both unedited videos of each candidate smearing each other. The second group had the first control, but the second video contained a symbol. Finally, the third group replaced the symbol with a subliminal message. Through the Gazepoint eye-tracking device, we were able to determine whether participants viewed, fixated, and revisited the areas of the ad that contained the subliminal messaging. This data allowed us to study the correlation between viewing the subliminal message and its effect on voting behavior. 

The Gazepoint GP3 is designed to track the subject’s pupils by measuring the light reflected by the pupil. As the pupil moves, the device follows the reflected light 

Image of a subject being calibrated to the device. 

Control: No Manipulation to Ads 

Experimental 1: Symbolism

Experimental 2: Subliminal Message 

January 6, 2020 - Danbee Chae 

We collected more data from Bergen students. 

January 7, 2020 - Danbee Chae 

We collected more data from Bergen students. 

January 8, 2020 - Danbee Chae 

We collected more data from Bergen students. 

January 9, 2020 - Danbee Chae 

By the end of the internship, we exceeded our goal and collected data from 180 subjects. In order to analyze our data, we applied key areas of interest(AOI) to each experimental video. Any eye movement in close proximity to these AOI’s registered as a fixation, which signified that the participant did, in fact, look at our visual stimuli. According to our analysis, there was a substantial effect of both symbolic and textual subliminal messaging on an individual’s political inquiry and voter perception. We also presented our project in front of other researchers and afterward started our Honors In Action paper draft. 

A data from a participant who picked up on the AOI of a subliminal message.