• Popular belief has always told us Popular belief has always told us that females mulit-task better that females mulit-task better than males.than males.

• It would seem they would also It would seem they would also have the better short term have the better short term memory.memory.

• Would they show this in a Virtual Would they show this in a Virtual Reality environment?Reality environment?

• GoalsGoals– Determine difference in short term Determine difference in short term

memory between males and females.memory between males and females.

• MotivationMotivation– See if gender affects short term See if gender affects short term

memory.memory.

• Hypothesis of StudyHypothesis of Study– We hypothesize that female subjects We hypothesize that female subjects

will show a better short term memorywill show a better short term memory..

• Henderson and HollingworthHenderson and Hollingworth– The role of fixation position in detecting scene The role of fixation position in detecting scene

changes across saccadeschanges across saccades..– Three factors found to affect detection.Three factors found to affect detection.– Visual system delivers veridical Visual system delivers veridical

representation of scene.representation of scene.

• ApparatusApparatus• StimulusStimulus• SubjectsSubjects• Experimental Experimental

DesignDesign• ProcedureProcedure• AnalysisAnalysis

• A Pentium 4 workstation A Pentium 4 workstation with a NVIDIA 4600 with a NVIDIA 4600 graphics card.graphics card.

• A Head Mounted Display A Head Mounted Display (HMD) binocular eye (HMD) binocular eye tracker having 640 X 480 tracker having 640 X 480 resolution per eye with resolution per eye with separate left and right separate left and right eye feeds and equipped eye feeds and equipped with head phones for with head phones for audio localization.audio localization.

• 6 degree-of-freedom 6 degree-of-freedom head tracking with head tracking with Ascension Flock Of BirdsAscension Flock Of Birds

• A virtual room A virtual room with three with three pictures placed pictures placed on each wall.on each wall.

• Each wall has a Each wall has a label (LEFT, label (LEFT, RIGHT, FRONT, RIGHT, FRONT, and BACK) and BACK) indicating its indicating its positionposition.

ANDREW ANDREW

DUCHOWSKIDUCHOWSKIPRADIP SRIMANIPRADIP SRIMANI MICHAEL JACKSONMICHAEL JACKSON

CARRIE-ANNE CARRIE-ANNE

MOSS(TRINITY)MOSS(TRINITY)BRIAN MALLOYBRIAN MALLOY BILL CLINTONBILL CLINTON

GEORGE W. BUSHGEORGE W. BUSH MICHAEL JORDANMICHAEL JORDAN TIMOTHY DAVISTIMOTHY DAVIS

DAVID BECKHAMDAVID BECKHAM WAYNE MADISONWAYNE MADISON KEANU KEANU REEVES(NEO)REEVES(NEO)

• Three male and three female college Three male and three female college students.students.

• Age varying from 20 to 22 years old.Age varying from 20 to 22 years old.

• 2 (Male/Female) X 1 (level of 2 (Male/Female) X 1 (level of difficulty) between-subjects difficulty) between-subjects designdesign

• Experimentation included one Experimentation included one level of difficulty, and every level of difficulty, and every subject went through the test subject went through the test under the same level of under the same level of difficulty. difficulty.

• Stats will contain data from Stats will contain data from the eye tracker and the the eye tracker and the program which will denote the program which will denote the gaze points of the subjects gaze points of the subjects and information about the and information about the gaze points which coincide gaze points which coincide with the position of pictures in with the position of pictures in the virtual world.the virtual world.

• Ask the subject to fill out the pre-run Ask the subject to fill out the pre-run questionnaire.questionnaire.– Questions include whether or not the Questions include whether or not the

subjects have 20/20 vision, and if not, subjects have 20/20 vision, and if not, do they wear glasses or contacts.do they wear glasses or contacts.

• Subjects are told they will have one Subjects are told they will have one minute to observe the virtual room.minute to observe the virtual room.

• Subjects enter the virtual room for Subjects enter the virtual room for one minute.one minute.

• Ask the subject to fill out the post-Ask the subject to fill out the post-run questionnaire where they will run questionnaire where they will circle the wall where they think each circle the wall where they think each picture appeared.picture appeared.

(Left, Right, Front, Back)

• We were able to observe how they We were able to observe how they explored the virtual room by explored the virtual room by replaying each subject’s trial run.replaying each subject’s trial run.

• The lower left hand picture was what The lower left hand picture was what the viewer saw.the viewer saw.

• Each picture that the subject’s eyes Each picture that the subject’s eyes actually looked at, is marked with a actually looked at, is marked with a red line.red line.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Ans

wer

s Cor

rect

Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3

Male

Female

MaleFemale

21.2

61.1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Male

Female

• There is almost a 40 percent difference in There is almost a 40 percent difference in the efficiency of short term memory the efficiency of short term memory between the sexes. between the sexes.

• Our hypothesis stated that our female Our hypothesis stated that our female subjects will prove to have better short subjects will prove to have better short term memory than our male subjects. This term memory than our male subjects. This is definitely the case in our results. is definitely the case in our results.

• The experiment The experiment was a success.was a success.

• Our hypothesis was Our hypothesis was correct.correct.

• We concluded that We concluded that gender does play a gender does play a role in the usage of role in the usage of short term short term memory.memory.