Cognitive and oculomotor strategies in ecological executive function assessments

• Grant number: 23/13504-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Cognitive Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Elizeu Coutinho de Macedo
• Grantee: Matheus de Melo Rodrigues
• Supervisor: Timothy Lewis Hodgson
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM). Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Lincoln, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/04632-3 - COGNITIVE STRATEGIES IN AN ECOLOGICAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ASSESSMENT TASK: ANALYSIS OF THE EYE MOVEMENTS PATTERN, BP.MS

Abstract

Cognitive strategies are a set of mental processes that are employed to regulate both the thought processes and their contents in order to solve problems and achieve different goals. The use of cognitive strategies is necessary for the interaction of individuals with the environment as they make decisions, plan and react to events. A particular class of strategies are those involved in tasks that require Executive Functions (EF). One way of understanding these strategies is from the analysis of eye movements. This might be through use of instructed eye movement tasks, such as the anti-saccade task in which participants must look away from a stimulus onset, or via an "ecological" approach in which spontaneous eye movements are recorded whist participants perform a cognitive task. The present project has the aim to develop sophisticated methods for the analysis of cognitive-visual strategies in an ecological EF task. To achieve this, we will conduct a study that will examine the association between measures derived from ecological tests and a controlled oculomotor tasks (the anti-saccade task). The findings of the research may in the future help support the construction of interventions and coping strategies that minimise the impact and consequences associated with the EF-related deficits, producing positive impacts both for the individual and for society. (AU)