Origins and applications of eye movement research

Research on oculomotor behaviour is examined historically. The first phase involved describing phenomena associated with eye movements; these typically concerned normal and abnormal binocular coordination and vertigo. Such descriptions became more refined, although attention was confined more to the directions the eyes adopted rather than their dynamics. Afterimages were the principal means by which the characteristics of eye movements were determined prior to the application of photographic methods in the early twentieth century. Many types of eye tracking devices are now available, and oculomotor behaviour provides insights into many perceptual and cognitive processes.