Task-relevant information probability shapes eye movements and perceptual judgment confidence

Task-relevant information probability shapes eye movements and perceptual judgment confidence | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Task-relevant information probability shapes eye movements and perceptual judgment confidence Thibault J. Desbordes, Nadia Alahyane, Alain Guillaume This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6863409/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 28 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Humans continuously decide where to look to gather task-relevant information. While affective rewards such as money are known to bias gaze direction, it remains unclear whether non-affective informational value can similarly shape oculomotor decisions. Here, we modulated the probability of finding task-relevant visual information at saccade targets in human participants performing a perceptual judgment task. Results showed that participants developed implicit biases, increasingly avoiding the low-information region. These learned preferences were also reflected in longer saccade latencies toward non-preferred regions, similar to patterns observed with affective reward learning. However, saccade peak velocity remained unchanged across locations. Perceptual accuracy was not influenced either. When participants' confidence ratings reliably distinguished correct from incorrect responses, confidence was higher for preferred regions, suggesting a dissociation between perceptual and metacognitive performance. These findings demonstrate that the probability of accessing usable information can be implicitly learned to guide eye movement decisions, much like reward. Moreover, learned preferences can influence subjective confidence without altering perceptual performance. Our results highlight that informational value, independent of affective cues, shapes oculomotor decision-making and post-perceptual judgment confidence. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Oculomotor system Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Reward Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Implicit learning Selection history Decision making Metacognition Saccades Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files DesbordesSupplementaryInformation.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 28 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 24 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 17 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 16 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 14 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6863409","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":473269986,"identity":"edd1fcab-e2c9-426d-a3be-88c41e07af9a","order_by":0,"name":"Thibault J. 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