ИСТИНА

Introduction. In this study we tried to locate oculomotor parameter differences in people with different chemistry competences when reading texts and analyzing schemes, describing chemical processes. We suggested that eye movement patterns differ between the two groups (experts and novices), across a range of eye movement measures: average fixation duration, average fixation duration on AOI, AOI revisits, fixation count, blinks. Methods. Participants in the study were 35 chemists (age range 18-55) with two different levels of expertise: 18 chemistry experts, 17 novices. There were 4 trials for each subject. Each trial included 1) reading a text describing a chemical process; 2) solving t problems in the form of graphs, using information from the text: filling empty cells in circuits; indicating errors; swapping elements to maintain the correct structure of the chemical process. Time was unlimited both at the stage of reading the text, and at the problem solving stage. Stimuli were presented on a 23-inch screen with a 1920x1080 pixel resolution, using the software Experiment Center from SMI. The search rate and eye movement data were recorded with an SMI iViewX Hi-Speed 1250 tracker (sampling rate 500Hz) with head support and the corresponding SMI software iVewX. Main results. It is found that experts are significantly faster in all types of tasks (F(1,139)=69,88, p<0,01). Also experts have more correct answers (F(1,139)=10,79, p<0,01). Novices have longer blinks duration when they read texts and solve problems (F(1,139) =28.87, p<0.01). It shows that the problems present greater complexity for novices and thus require greater effort. There are no differences in eye movements between groups of experts and novices in reading texts. Analysis of eye movement in graphical tasks showed that experts are characterized by longer fixations, which concentrate on significant areas of graphical representations of tasks (F(1,139)=8.77, p<0.01). Novices generally have shorter fixations, which are evenly distributed in relation to the location of separate elements of the problem. It is also found that experts make less transitions between AOI than novices (F(1,139)=88.01, p<0.01). Conclusions. Experts spend less time solving problems and solve problems more correctly due to less effort. The obtained data can be interpreted as evidence of the existence of two different strategies in task performance. Novices use perceptual strategy, which is aimed at extracting as much information as possible from the presented graph. Experts use more effective cognitive strategy, which is based on previous knowledge and mental representations, sustained in working memory.