Orienting Attention in Response to a Cue Cues can be stimulus cues or symbolic cues Cues can elicit reflexive orienting, voluntary orienting or both What cues tend to be reflexive? What cues tend to be voluntary?

Voluntary Orienting Symbolic cues tend to trigger voluntary orienting Symbolic cues may orient attention towards another location. Stimulus cues orient attention to the stimulated location. Symbolic Cue

Reflexive Orienting 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 attentional capture Transients

Reflexive Orienting The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting … in what way?

Reflexive Orienting The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it asses only reflexive orienting?

Reflexive Orienting The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it asses only reflexive orienting? Make validity 50% (non-informative cue)

Reflexive Orienting The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it asses only reflexive orienting? Make validity 50% (non-informative cue) Viewers are still faster and more accurate!

Reflexive Orienting Can symbolic cues be reflexive? Almost never but …

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

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 H may be revealed from an 8 or may appear as a new object

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

Disordered Attention and Consciousness Sensory information must be attended for it to be entered into awareness

Disordered Attention and Consciousness The attention orienting system can be damaged which leads to hemispatial neglect or extinction The attention orienting mechanism can be confused leading to something called “change blindness”

Disordered Attention and Consciousness Change blindness – Change blindness shows us that the feeling of being in a detailed visual environment is really just an illusion – We only have access to the parts of the scene to which we have attended

Disordered Attention and Consciousness Change blindness – Change blindness shows us that the feeling of being in a detailed visual environment is really just an illusion – We only have access to the parts of the scene to which we have attended – And that is often not very much!