1
|
Flexible attention system: Appearance time of split attention changes in accordance with the task difficulty level. Atten Percept Psychophys 2021; 84:2127-2140. [PMID: 34820768 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02386-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Although it is often assumed that spatial attention exists in the form of a unitary focus, the split-attention hypothesis proposes that attention can be simultaneously divided into two spatially noncontiguous positions and that the space in between can be ignored. However, whether split attention occurs directly based on the generation of attentional benefit or whether it requires a gradual divide from a unitary focus over time has not been clarified. In the present study, by using two spatial salient cues to direct the attention allocation of participants, we aimed to investigate whether attention requires time to divide from a unitary focus and whether the appearance time of split attention varies when the task difficulty level increases between experiments. The results showed that attention required time to divide from a unitary focus, and the position between the two cued positions was not excluded by attention when the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) was 60 ms. However, as the task difficulty increased between experiments, the appearance time of split attention was earlier. These findings suggest that the appearance time of split attention has a certain flexibility and can be changed according to the task requirement, thus implying that split attention and unitary attention present some common attention mechanisms and that a split or unitary mode can be flexibly selected for an attention system.
Collapse
|
2
|
Hu X, Hisakata R, Kaneko H. Pupillary dilation elicited by attending to two disks with different luminance. J Vis 2021; 21:11. [PMID: 33481992 PMCID: PMC7838548 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.1.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Pupils become smaller when people attend to a bright disk as compared to a dark disk. However, people can divide their attention into several distinct positions, which is referred to as divided attention, and pupillary responses under such conditions have not been investigated. In this study, we examined how pupils would respond when people attended to two disks presented at two distinct positions by conducting three experiments. We found that the pupillary response when attending to two disks with different luminance was larger than when attending to a single brighter disk and was comparable to that when attending to a single darker disk, whereas the pupillary response when attending to two disks with identical luminance was not larger than when attending to a single disk (irrespective of the disk luminance). Furthermore, we found that the magnitude of pupillary dilation was determined by the magnitude of the luminance difference between two disks. These results make a useful contribution to the literature on human pupillary responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofei Hu
- Department of Information and Communications Engineering, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.,
| | - Rumi Hisakata
- Department of Information and Communications Engineering, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.,
| | - Hirohiko Kaneko
- Department of Information and Communications Engineering, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.,
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Rizzi E, Jagacinski RJ, Bloom BJ. Spatio-Temporal Flexibility of Attention Inferred from Drivers' Steering Movements. J Mot Behav 2021; 53:758-769. [PMID: 33444513 DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2020.1868968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Participants attempted to center a cursor on a video display of a winding roadway with a rate control system. Fourier analysis of their steering movements in response to sinusoidal perturbations of the roadway revealed how much attention they allocated to different roadway preview locations. We compared a full 1.0 s of preview with preview restricted to a narrow slit around 0.3 s or 0.6 s. Participants were able to flexibly shift their attention to either slit. However, they performed better in terms of root-mean-squared error, velocity error, and acceleration error with the fuller view. They concentrated their attention over a range from 0.1 s to 0.3 s of preview in a manner qualitatively consistent with Miller's optimal control model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emanuele Rizzi
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Cutrone EK, Heeger DJ, Carrasco M. On spatial attention and its field size on the repulsion effect. J Vis 2018; 18:8. [PMID: 30029219 PMCID: PMC6012187 DOI: 10.1167/18.6.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 05/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the attentional repulsion effect-stimuli appear displaced further away from attended locations-in three experiments: one with exogenous (involuntary) attention, and two with endogenous (voluntary) attention with different attention-field sizes. It has been proposed that differences in attention-field size can account for qualitative differences in neural responses elicited by attended stimuli. We used psychophysical comparative judgments and manipulated either exogenous attention via peripheral cues or endogenous attention via central cues and a demanding rapid serial visual presentation task. We manipulated the attention field size of endogenous attention by presenting streams of letters at two specific locations or at two of many possible locations during each block. We found a robust attentional repulsion effect in all three experiments: with endogenous and exogenous attention and with both attention-field sizes. These findings advance our understanding of the influence of spatial attention on the perception of visual space and help relate this repulsion effect to possible neurophysiological correlates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - David J Heeger
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
First unitary, then divided: the temporal dynamics of dividing attention. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 83:1426-1443. [PMID: 29691650 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1018-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2017] [Accepted: 04/13/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Whether focused visual attention can be divided has been the topic of much investigation, and there is a compelling body of evidence showing that, at least under certain conditions, attention can be divided and deployed as two independent foci. Three experiments were conducted to examine whether attention can be deployed in divided form from the outset, or whether it is first deployed as a unitary focus before being divided. To test this, we adapted the methodology of Jefferies, Enns, and Di Lollo (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 40: 465, 2014), who used a dual-stream Attentional Blink paradigm and two letter-pair targets. One aspect of the AB, Lag-1 sparing, has been shown to occur only if the second target pair appears within the focus of attention. By presenting the second target pair at various spatial locations and assessing the magnitude of Lag-1 sparing, we probed the spatial distribution of attention. By systematically manipulating the stimulus-onset-asynchrony between the targets, we also tracked changes to the spatial distribution of attention over time. The results showed that even under conditions which encourage the division of attention, the attentional focus is first deployed in unitary form before being divided. It is then maintained in divided form only briefly before settling on a single location.
Collapse
|
6
|
Jefferies LN, Enns JT, Di Lollo V. The exogenous and endogenous control of attentional focusing. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 83:989-1006. [PMID: 28939935 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0918-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Selective visual attention involves prioritizing both the location (orienting) and distribution (focusing) of processing. To date, much more research has examined attentional orienting than focusing. One of the most well-established findings is that orienting can be exogenous, as when a unique change in luminance draws attention to a spatial location (e.g., Theeuwes in Atten Percept Psychophys 51:599-606, 1992; Yantis and Jonides in J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 10:601, 1984), and endogenous, as when a red distractor shape diverts attention when one is looking for a red target (e.g., Bacon and Egeth in Percept Psychophys 55:485-496, 1994; Folk et al. in J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 18:1030, 1992). Here we ask whether attentional focusing-the broadening and contracting of prioritized processing-is influenced by the same two factors. Our methodology involved a dual-stream attentional blink task; participants monitored two spatially separated streams of items for two targets that could appear unpredictably either in the same stream or in opposite streams. The spatial distribution of attention was assessed by examining second-target accuracy in relation to inter-target lag and target location (same or opposite streams). In Experiment 1, we found that attentional contracting was more rapid when the targets differed in luminance from the distractor items. In Experiments 2 and 3, we found that the rate of attentional contracting was slower when there were task-relevant distractors in the stream opposite the first target. These results indicate that the rate of attentional focusing, like orienting, can be modulated by both exogenous and endogenous mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lisa N Jefferies
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia. .,Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - James T Enns
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.,University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Jagacinski RJ, Hammond GM, Rizzi E. Measuring Memory and Attention to Preview in Motion. HUMAN FACTORS 2017; 59:796-810. [PMID: 28704632 DOI: 10.1177/0018720817695193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Objective Use perceptual-motor responses to perturbations to reveal the spatio-temporal detail of memory for the recent past and attention to preview when participants track a winding roadway. Background Memory of the recently passed roadway can be inferred from feedback control models of the participants' manual movement patterns. Similarly, attention to preview of the upcoming roadway can be inferred from feedforward control models of manual movement patterns. Method Perturbation techniques were used to measure these memory and attention functions. Results In a laboratory tracking task, the bandwidth of lateral roadway deviations was found to primarily influence memory for the past roadway rather than attention to preview. A secondary auditory/verbal/vocal memory task resulted in higher velocity error and acceleration error in the tracking task but did not affect attention to preview. Attention to preview was affected by the frequency pattern of sinusoidal perturbations of the roadway. Conclusion Perturbation techniques permit measurement of the spatio-temporal span of memory and attention to preview that affect tracking a winding roadway. They also provide new ways to explore goal-directed forgetting and spatially distributed attention in the context of movement. More generally, these techniques provide sensitive measures of individual differences in cognitive aspects of action. Application Models of driving behavior and assessment of driving skill may benefit from more detailed spatio-temporal measurement of attention to preview.
Collapse
|
8
|
Deployment of spatial attention to a structural framework: exogenous (alerting) and endogenous (goal-directed) factors. Atten Percept Psychophys 2017; 79:1933-1944. [PMID: 28718175 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-017-1378-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
9
|
White AL, Runeson E, Palmer J, Ernst ZR, Boynton GM. Evidence for unlimited capacity processing of simple features in visual cortex. J Vis 2017; 17:19. [PMID: 28654964 PMCID: PMC5488877 DOI: 10.1167/17.6.19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2016] [Accepted: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Performance in many visual tasks is impaired when observers attempt to divide spatial attention across multiple visual field locations. Correspondingly, neuronal response magnitudes in visual cortex are often reduced during divided compared with focused spatial attention. This suggests that early visual cortex is the site of capacity limits, where finite processing resources must be divided among attended stimuli. However, behavioral research demonstrates that not all visual tasks suffer such capacity limits: The costs of divided attention are minimal when the task and stimulus are simple, such as when searching for a target defined by orientation or contrast. To date, however, every neuroimaging study of divided attention has used more complex tasks and found large reductions in response magnitude. We bridged that gap by using functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure responses in the human visual cortex during simple feature detection. The first experiment used a visual search task: Observers detected a low-contrast Gabor patch within one or four potentially relevant locations. The second experiment used a dual-task design, in which observers made independent judgments of Gabor presence in patches of dynamic noise at two locations. In both experiments, blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the retinotopic cortex were significantly lower for ignored than attended stimuli. However, when observers divided attention between multiple stimuli, BOLD signals were not reliably reduced and behavioral performance was unimpaired. These results suggest that processing of simple features in early visual cortex has unlimited capacity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alex L White
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Seattle, WA, ://alexlwhite.com/
| | - Erik Runeson
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Seattle, WA,
| | - John Palmer
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Seattle, WA, ://faculty.washington.edu/jpalmer/
| | - Zachary R Ernst
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Geoffrey M Boynton
- University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Seattle, WA, ://faculty.washington.edu/gboynton/
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Automaticity of phasic alertness: Evidence for a three-component model of visual cueing. Atten Percept Psychophys 2016; 78:1948-67. [PMID: 27173487 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-016-1124-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The automaticity of phasic alertness is investigated using the attention network test. Results show that the cueing effect from the alerting cue-double cue-is strongly enhanced by the task relevance of visual cues, as determined by the informativeness of the orienting cue-single cue-that is being mixed (80 % vs. 50 % valid in predicting where the target will appear). Counterintuitively, the cueing effect from the alerting cue can be negatively affected by its visibility, such that masking the cue from awareness can reveal a cueing effect that is otherwise absent when the cue is visible. Evidently, then, top-down influences-in the form of contextual relevance and cue awareness-can have opposite influences on the cueing effect from the alerting cue. These findings lead us to the view that a visual cue can engage three components of attention-orienting, alerting, and inhibition-to determine the behavioral cueing effect. We propose that phasic alertness, particularly in the form of specific response readiness, is regulated by both internal, top-down expectation and external, bottom-up stimulus properties. In contrast to some existing views, we advance the perspective that phasic alertness is strongly tied to temporal orienting, attentional capture, and spatial orienting. Finally, we discuss how translating attention research to clinical applications would benefit from an improved ability to measure attention. To this end, controlling the degree of intraindividual variability in the attentional components and improving the precision of the measurement tools may prove vital.
Collapse
|
11
|
The whole is faster than its parts: evidence for temporally independent attention to distinct spatial locations. Atten Percept Psychophys 2015; 78:452-63. [PMID: 26603040 PMCID: PMC4744265 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-015-1023-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggests that visual attention operates in parallel at distinct spatial locations and samples the environment in periodic episodes. This combination of spatial and temporal characteristics raises the question of whether attention samples locations in a phase-locked or temporally independent manner. If attentional sampling rates were phase locked, attention would be limited by a global sampling rate. However, if attentional sampling rates were temporally independent, they could operate additively to sample higher rates of information. We tested these predictions by requiring participants to identify targets in 2 or 4 rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams, synchronized or asynchronized to manipulate the rate of new information globally (across streams). Identification accuracy exhibited little or no change when the global rate of new information doubled from 7.5 to 15 Hz (Experiment 1) or quadrupled to 30 Hz (Experiment 2). This relatively stable identification accuracy occurred even though participants reliably discriminated 7.5 Hz synchronous displays from displays globally asynchronized at 15 and 30 Hz (Metamer Control Experiment). Identification accuracy in the left visual field also significantly exceeded that in the right visual field. Overall, our results are consistent with temporally independent attention across distinct spatial locations and support previous reports of a right parietal "when" pathway specialized for temporal attention.
Collapse
|
12
|
Szpiro SFA, Carrasco M. Exogenous Attention Enables Perceptual Learning. Psychol Sci 2015; 26:1854-62. [PMID: 26502745 DOI: 10.1177/0956797615598976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2014] [Accepted: 07/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Practice can improve visual perception, and these improvements are considered to be a form of brain plasticity. Training-induced learning is time-consuming and requires hundreds of trials across multiple days. The process of learning acquisition is understudied. Can learning acquisition be potentiated by manipulating visual attentional cues? We developed a protocol in which we used task-irrelevant cues for between-groups manipulation of attention during training. We found that training with exogenous attention can enable the acquisition of learning. Remarkably, this learning was maintained even when observers were subsequently tested under neutral conditions, which indicates that a change in perception was involved. Our study is the first to isolate the effects of exogenous attention and to demonstrate its efficacy to enable learning. We propose that exogenous attention boosts perceptual learning by enhancing stimulus encoding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Psychology Department Center for Neural Science, New York University
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Mapping the spatiotemporal dynamics of interference between two visual targets. Atten Percept Psychophys 2015; 77:2331-43. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-015-0938-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
14
|
|
15
|
Tan M, Wyble B. Understanding how visual attention locks on to a location: Toward a computational model of the N2pc component. Psychophysiology 2014; 52:199-213. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Accepted: 07/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mingxuan Tan
- Department of Psychology; Syracuse University; Syracuse New York USA
| | - Brad Wyble
- Department of Psychology; Pennsylvania State University; University Park Pennsylvania USA
| |
Collapse
|