Start Date

12-13-2015

Description

Identifying when users are experiencing heightened cognitive load has a number of important applications for businesses, online education, and personal computer use. In this paper, we present a method for detecting heightened cognitive load using a technique known as mouse dynamics (MD). We provide an overview of cognitive science literature linking changes in cognitive states to interruptions of fine motor control to provide a theoretical base for our work. We then described a laboratory experiment in which low, medium, and high cognitive load were elicited while MD features were captured. We found that participants exhibited longer task duration, longer distances, more direction changes, and slower speed when under high cognitive load.

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Dec 13th, 12:00 AM

Mind Over Mouse: The Effect of Cognitive Load on Mouse Movement Behavior

Identifying when users are experiencing heightened cognitive load has a number of important applications for businesses, online education, and personal computer use. In this paper, we present a method for detecting heightened cognitive load using a technique known as mouse dynamics (MD). We provide an overview of cognitive science literature linking changes in cognitive states to interruptions of fine motor control to provide a theoretical base for our work. We then described a laboratory experiment in which low, medium, and high cognitive load were elicited while MD features were captured. We found that participants exhibited longer task duration, longer distances, more direction changes, and slower speed when under high cognitive load.