Decoding Emotional and Spiritual Responses Across Languages with Eye-tracking

A study by Zurab Kherodinashvili and Kholoud Al-Baker (2025) from Teachers College, Columbia University explored how bilingual speakers process emotional and spiritual language in their native and second languages. The team used RealEye, our webcam-based eye-tracking platform, to uncover subtle but meaningful differences in how Georgian-English and Arabic-English bilinguals read emotionally charged and spiritually themed words.

Why Eye-Tracking?

The researchers wanted to measure participants' cognitive and emotional engagement with different types of words: neutral, negative, and spiritual. Eye-tracking offered a non-intrusive, real-time way to observe this engagement by recording where, when, and how long participants looked at words in their first language (L1) and their second language (L2).

The Method: Simple but Powerful

The study involved 35 bilingual participants (17 Georgian-English and 18 Arabic-English). Using RealEye, participants completed a task where they read 120 stimuli - a mix of individual words and full sentences - presented in both L1 and L2.

Key metrics captured by RealEye included:

• Fixation Duration: How long participants looked at each word or sentence.
• Time to First Fixation (TTFF): How quickly they looked at the word after it appeared.
• Total Gaze Time: How much total time they spent looking at the word or sentence.

Stimuli were randomized in position and order to avoid bias. The study was completed remotely in a single 15-minute session, showing the ease and efficiency of RealEye for academic research.

What Did RealEye Reveal?

The results offered fascinating insights:

• L2 (English) processing required more cognitive effort: Participants had longer fixations and gaze times when reading in English, confirming that a second language typically demands more mental resources.
• Spiritual words in L1 created deeper engagement: Both Georgian and Arabic speakers showed longer fixation times and greater total gaze durations for spiritual content in their native languages. This suggests stronger emotional resonance and possibly cultural familiarity.
• Quicker orientation to L2: Interestingly, participants often looked at English words faster than L1 words, though this may reflect design effects or visual attention patterns rather than comprehension.

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These patterns suggest that language deeply shapes emotional and spiritual processing, and RealEye provided the objective metrics to track those effects in real-time.

Why It Matters

This study highlights the value of eye-tracking in exploring not just marketing or UX behavior, but also emotional and psychological engagement across cultures and languages. RealEye made it possible to conduct this research remotely, without needing specialized hardware - an important advantage for interdisciplinary and international studies.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re studying spirituality, reading behavior, or cognitive load, RealEye offers a flexible and affordable way to gather real eye-tracking data. This research is a great example of how behavioral science and technology can work hand-in-hand to uncover the invisible: the subtle ways our minds respond to the words we read.

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Interested in using RealEye for education research or accessibility testing?

Check out RealEye offer for Education!

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You can run a similar study!

Follow the steps below to start your own experiment with RealEye:

1. Go to RealEye Dashboard and create or log in to your account.
2. Purchase the License of your choice (https://www.realeye.io/pricing). If you need any custom adjustments, contact us at contact@realeye.io. We are happy to help!
3. Activate your license by following the instructions in the RealEye License Activation Guide

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‍Ready to set up your own study? Visit RealEye Support page to learn more and keep us posted on your results! 🚀