How Mouse-tracking Can Advance Social Cognitive Theory

• Published in: Trends in cognitive sciences Vol. 22; no. 6; pp. 531 - 543
• Main Authors: Stillman, Paul E., Shen, Xi, Ferguson, Melissa J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2018
• Subjects: mouse-tracking; process tracing; real-time methods; self-control; social categorization; process tracing; self-control; social categorization; mouse-tracking; real-time methods
• ISSN: 1364-6613; 1879-307X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.03.012

Mouse-tracking – measuring computer-mouse movements made by participants while they choose between response options – is an emerging tool that offers an accessible, data-rich, and real-time window into how people categorize and make decisions. In the present article we review recent research in social cognition that uses mouse-tracking to test models and advance theory. In particular, mouse-tracking allows examination of nuanced predictions about both the nature of conflict (e.g., its antecedents and consequences) as well as how this conflict is resolved (e.g., how decisions evolve). We demonstrate how mouse-tracking can further our theoretical understanding by highlighting research in two domains − social categorization and self-control. We conclude with future directions and a discussion of the limitations of mouse-tracking as a method. Computer-mouse movements reflect underlying cognitive processes, and, by continuously measuring mouse movements while participants make a judgment or decision (i.e., mouse-tracking), researchers can get a real-time window into how such choices evolve. Mouse-tracking has the potential to offer a sensitive measure of the conflict present between two response options, allowing researchers to test theoretical predictions about the antecedents and consequences of decisional conflict. The rich temporal data offered by mouse-tracking allows testing of nuanced theories regarding how decisions evolve, and allow researchers to make specific predictions about the time-course of the evolution of a decision. Recent research in social cognition – most notably in social categorization and self-control literatures – has begun to use mouse-tracking to predict and understand judgments and decisions that are complex and consequential.