Abstract
ProtoMatch is a software tool for integrating and analyzing fixed-location and movement eye gaze and cursor data. It provides a comprehensive collection of protocol analysis tools that support sequential data analyses for eye fixations and scanpaths as well as for cursor “fixations” (dwells at one location) and “cursorpaths” (movements between locations). ProtoMatch is modularized software that integrates both eye gaze and cursor protocols into a unified stream of data and provides an assortment of filters and analyses. ProtoMatch subsumes basic analyses (i.e., fixation duration, number of fixations, etc.) and introduces a method of objectively computing the similarity between scanpaths or cursorpaths using sequence alignment. The combination of filters, basic analyses, and sequence alignment in ProtoMatch provides researchers with a versatile system for performing both confirmatory and exploratory sequential data analyses (Sanderson & Fisher, 1994).
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This work was supported by grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR F49620-03-1-0143) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR N000140310046) to Wayne D. Gray. The authors thank Wayne D. Gray, Markus Guhe, and Hansjörg Neth for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this report. A special thanks to Chris R. Sims and Wayne D. Gray for software name suggestions.
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Myers, C.W., Schoelles, M.J. ProtoMatch: A tool for analyzing high-density, sequential eye gaze and cursor protocols. Behavior Research Methods 37, 256–270 (2005). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192693
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03192693