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The verbal reporting techniques used most in research on learning and instruction, concurrent and retrospective reporting, both have drawbacks. Retrospective reporting often results in omissions/fabrications, and concurrent reporting is difficult to implement when tasks impose high cognitive load or contain auditory information. Cued retrospective reporting (CRR) based on eye-movement records might be able to overcome these drawbacks: while maintaining the retrospective nature, the cue shows both physical (mouse/keyboard) and cognitive (eye movements) actions, thereby presumably leading to less omissions/fabrications. Because a previous study showed promising results, the present study extends the test of CRR to qualitative data (ie, process coverage).

Verbal reporting techniques are used in a variety of disciplines to study cognitive processes, such as problem-solving, user-system interaction, or decision-making processes. In the field of instructional design, for example, attempts to uncover cognitive processes of experts are made to obtain input for the design of instructional materials, and cognitive processes of learners are uncovered while they interact with instructional materials to evaluate their effectiveness.