Control of Attention Major Distinctions: VoluntaryReflexive Overt Covert or

Studying Attention Posner Cue-Target Paradigm

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: VALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: VALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: VALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: X VALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: INVALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: INVALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: INVALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: X INVALID CUE TRIAL

Paradigms Used To Study Attention Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: Attention Effect = Valid RT - Invalid RT People tend to be faster and more accurate on validly cued trials !

Pardigms Used To Study Attention Does the Posner Cue - Target Paradigm elicited voluntary or reflexive orienting?

Pardigms Used To Study Attention Does the Posner Cue - Target Paradigm elicited voluntary or reflexive orienting? Either or both! It depends on how it is set up.

Voluntary Orienting What are some ways to make sure that subjects are voluntarily orienting attention? –use informative cue (validity greater than 50%) –use a symbolic cue

Voluntary Orienting Symbolic vs. Stimulus Cues Symbolic cues orient attention towards another location. Stimulus cues orient attention to the stimulated location. Symbolic Stimulus +

Voluntary Orienting What is the time course of voluntary orienting? Cue - Target Interval Response Time Invalid Valid It takes a few hundred ms to gain full benefit of attention ~ ms

Even non-informative cues cause faster responses when they are valid…why?

Reflexive Orienting Even non-informative cues cause faster responses when they are valid…why? Attention can be automatically “summoned” to a location at which an important event has occurred:

Reflexive Orienting Attention can be automatically “summoned” to a location at which an important event has occurred: –Loud noise –Motion –New Object We call this reflexive orienting or attentional capture Transients

Reflexive Orienting Stimulus cues sometimes confound reflexive and voluntary orienting

Reflexive Orienting Stimulus cues sometimes confound reflexive and voluntary orienting How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it assess only reflexive orienting?

Reflexive Orienting Stimulus cues sometimes confound reflexive and voluntary orienting How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it assess only reflexive orienting? Make validity 50% (non-informative cue)

Reflexive Orienting Time course of reflexive orienting is counterintuitive Cue - Target Interval (ms) Response Time Valid Invalid

Reflexive Orienting Time course of reflexive orienting is counterintuitive Delayed response at validly cued location after long cue-target interval is known as Inhibition of Return

Reflexive Orienting Time course of reflexive orienting is counterintuitive Delayed response at validly cued location after long cue-target interval is known as Inhibition of Return Thought to occur because attention goes to cued location, then leaves and is inhibited from returning

Reflexive Orienting Can symbolic cues be reflexive?

Reflexive Orienting Can symbolic cues be reflexive? Reflexive orienting to direction of eye gaze

Reflexive Orienting Potential cues for Reflexive Orienting –Loud noise –Motion –New Object New Objects are powerful attention grabbers! Transients

Reflexive Orienting New objects capture attention

New Objects Capture Attention IS THERE AN “H”? Initial scene viewed for several hundred ms Yantis & Jonides (1990): New-Object Paradigm

New Objects Capture Attention New scene: search for target letter IS THERE AN “H”? Yantis & Jonides (1990): New-Object Paradigm

Reflexive Orienting Steven Yantis and colleagues –Result:

Reflexive Orienting Steven Yantis and colleagues –Result: Targets are found faster when they are “new objects” than when they are revealed from “old” objects

Reflexive Orienting Steven Yantis and colleagues –Interpretation: The visual system prioritizes in dealing with visual objects - relatively recent objects are “flagged” while older objects are disregarded

Parallel vs. Serial Information Processing Remember - attention is about information processing

Parallel vs. Serial Information Processing Remember - attention is about information processing A fundamental question was “how much information can be processed at once?”

Parallel vs. Serial Information Processing Remember - attention is about information processing A fundamental question was “how much information can be processed at once?” –The answer seemed to be “not much” - but can we get a better understanding ?

Parallel vs. Serial Information Processing Remember - attention is about information processing A fundamental question was “how much information can be processed at once?” –The answer seemed to be “not much” - but can we get a better understanding ? At issue is whether or not the brain can processes several items at once or must selectively attend to each item in turn

Parallel vs. Serial Information Processing How could you determine that ?

Next Time How could you determine that ? How to determine that. (Read Treisman Article for Friday)