Cognitive and Emotional Differences in Daytime and Nighttime Tourist Experiences in Historic Neighborhoods: A Combined Eye-Tracking and Neuroergonomic Experiment

Cognitive and Emotional Differences in Daytime and Nighttime Tourist Experiences in Historic Neighborhoods: A Combined Eye-Tracking and Neuroergonomic Experiment | 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 Cognitive and Emotional Differences in Daytime and Nighttime Tourist Experiences in Historic Neighborhoods: A Combined Eye-Tracking and Neuroergonomic Experiment Yue Ma, Hu Zhang, Ming Liu, Yongbo Feng, Xiaochen Zhao, Yilin Shi, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7283321/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract With the rapid development of tourism, historic districts have become significant re-sources for tourist attractions. However, comprehensive research on how different time periods (daytime and nighttime) affect tourists’ experiences in these areas remains limited. This study integrates eye-tracking, psychophysiological measures, and subjec-tive questionnaires to examine differences in tourists’ cognitive processes and emotional states in historic districts during the day and night. The experiment selected square, entrance, and street scenes during both daytime and nighttime, collecting eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and heart rate variability (HRV) data from 65 participants. These data were used to compare cognitive processes (attention, spatial perception, and scene information processing), cognitive load, and emotional perception under different time scene conditions. Results showed that visitors in nighttime scenes exhibited higher attention, cognitive control, and cognitive load, although their scene perception was slower. While historic districts elicited positive emotions in visitors during both day and night, emotional arousal and pleasantness were greater at night. Additionally, street scenes were significantly more attractive to tourists at night, whereas square and entrances evoked more positive emotional responses during the day. This study highlights the substantial impact of time on tourist experiences, showing that nighttime settings enhance both cognitive and emotional responses. These findings provide a scientific foundation for developing nighttime tourism in historic districts and offer recommendations for optimizing both daytime and nighttime atmospheres to improve overall visitor satisfaction. Biological sciences/Neuroscience Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Tourism experience Electroencephalography Eye tracking Physiological measurements Cognitive engagement Emotional states Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files natureAppendixA.Supplementarydata1.docx GraphicalAbstract.png Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted 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-7283321","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":535450583,"identity":"4ffa7f63-a3a9-4b9b-ac72-f6781a45fe16","order_by":0,"name":"Yue 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engagement, Emotional states","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7283321/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7283321/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWith the rapid development of tourism, historic districts have become significant re-sources for tourist attractions. However, comprehensive research on how different time periods (daytime and nighttime) affect tourists\u0026rsquo; experiences in these areas remains limited. This study integrates eye-tracking, psychophysiological measures, and subjec-tive questionnaires to examine differences in tourists\u0026rsquo; cognitive processes and emotional states in historic districts during the day and night. The experiment selected square, entrance, and street scenes during both daytime and nighttime, collecting eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and heart rate variability (HRV) data from 65 participants. These data were used to compare cognitive processes (attention, spatial perception, and scene information processing), cognitive load, and emotional perception under different time scene conditions. Results showed that visitors in nighttime scenes exhibited higher attention, cognitive control, and cognitive load, although their scene perception was slower. While historic districts elicited positive emotions in visitors during both day and night, emotional arousal and pleasantness were greater at night. Additionally, street scenes were significantly more attractive to tourists at night, whereas square and entrances evoked more positive emotional responses during the day. This study highlights the substantial impact of time on tourist experiences, showing that nighttime settings enhance both cognitive and emotional responses. These findings provide a scientific foundation for developing nighttime tourism in historic districts and offer recommendations for optimizing both daytime and nighttime atmospheres to improve overall visitor satisfaction.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Cognitive and Emotional Differences in Daytime and Nighttime Tourist Experiences in Historic Neighborhoods: A Combined Eye-Tracking and Neuroergonomic Experiment","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-29 13:48:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7283321/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2286e78d-0cc9-46b8-a2e0-323c6fbf2f1c","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 29th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":56919254,"name":"Biological sciences/Neuroscience"},{"id":56919255,"name":"Biological sciences/Psychology"},{"id":56919256,"name":"Social science/Psychology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-21T11:08:51+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-29 13:48:49","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7283321","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7283321","identity":"rs-7283321","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}