The main objective of this research is to explore the cognitive processes of expert and novice map users during the retrieval of map-related information, within varying difficulty levels (i.e., easy, moderate, hard), by using eye tracking and electroencephalogram (EEG). In this context, we present a spatial memory experiment consisting of a large number of stimuli to study the effect of task difficulty on map users’ behavior through cognitive load measurements. Next to the reaction time and success rate, we used fixation and saccade related eye tracking metrics (i.e., average fixation duration, the number of fixations per second, saccade amplitude and saccade velocity), and EEG power spectrum (i.e., event-related changes in alpha and theta frequency bands) to identify the cognitive load. While fixation metrics indicated no statistically significant difference between experts and novices, saccade metrics proved the otherwise. EEG power spectral density analysis, on the other side, suggested an increase in theta (i.e., event-related synchronization) and a decrease in alpha (except moderate tasks) (i.e., event-related desynchronization) at all difficulty levels of the task for both experts and novices, which is an indicator of cognitive load. Although no significant difference emerged between two groups, we found a significant difference in their overall performances when the participants were classified as good and relatively bad learners. Triangulating EEG results with the recorded eye tracking data and the qualitative analysis of focus maps indeed provided a detailed insight on the differences of the individuals’ cognitive processes during this spatial memory task.

中文翻译：

---

使用脑电图和眼动追踪探索专家和新手地图用户的认知负担

这项研究的主要目的是通过使用眼动追踪和脑电图（EEG），在不同难度级别（即简单，中度，困难）内，探索专家和新手地图用户在获取地图相关信息时的认知过程。 。在这种情况下，我们提出了一个由大量刺激组成的空间记忆实验，以通过认知负荷测量研究任务难度对地图用户行为的影响。除了反应时间和成功率，我们还使用了与注视和扫视有关的眼睛跟踪指标（即平均注视持续时间，每秒注视次数，扫视幅度和扫视速度）以及EEG功率谱（即与事件相关的变化）在alpha和theta频段）以识别认知负荷。虽然注视指标表明专家和新手之间在统计学上没有显着差异，但扫视指标证明并非如此。另一方面，EEG功率谱密度分析表明，在以下情况的任务的所有难度级别下，theta的增加（即与事件相关的同步）和alpha的降低（中度任务除外）（即与事件相关的去同步）无论是专家还是新手，这都是认知负担的指标。尽管两组之间没有显着差异，但是当参与者被分为好和相对差的学习者时，我们发现他们的整体表现有显着差异。