An Eye-Tracking Study of Exploitations of Spatial Constraints in Diagrammatic Reasoning

The semantic studies of diagrammatic notations [1,2,3] have revealed that so-called "perceptual," "non-deductive," or "emergent" effects of diagrams [4,5,6,7] are all rooted in a common inferential process, namely, the exploitation of spatial constraints on graphical structures. Thus, theoretically, this process is a key factor in inference with diagrams, explaining the oft-observed unburdening of the inferential load. In the present Study, we inspect the empirical basis of this theoretical suggestion. Eye-movements were recorded while the participants were engaged in three-term transitive inference problems. They were provided with simple positions diagrams, oil which we can define positions that should be fixated if the hypothesized inferential process occurs. Our analysis has revealed that the participants could exploit spatial constraints on graphical structures even when (1) they were not in the position of actually manipulating diagrams, and (2) the semantic rule of the provided diagrams did not match their preference. These findings indicate that the hypothesized practice is in fact robust, With a potential to broadly account for the inferential advantage of diagrams.