Preparatory attention: Experiment and theory
Consciousness and Cognition 9 (3):396-434 (2000)
| Abstract | This study investigated attention to a spatial location using a new spatial preparation task. Participants responded to a target dot presented in the center of a display and ignored a distractor dot presented to the right or left of the center. In an attempt to vary the level of preparatory attention directed to the target, the distractor dot was presented prior to the onset time of the target and the relative frequency of distractor dots to target dots within a block of trials was varied. The results from the first three experiments showed that when instructions induce weak preparatory attention to the target location, response times to a target on target-only trials increase substantially as the percentage of trials containing a distractor increases from 0 to 75%. In Experiments 2 and 3, instructions and display saliency were used to induce strong preparatory attention to the target location, resulting in almost constant response times across distractor percentages. Experiment 4 varied percentage of target trials in the absence of distractors, with the result that response times decreased as target trial percentage increased. Accounts of these data by early ''activity-based'' and late ''criterion-based'' attention theories are compared, and the early theory is given a more detailed description within the context of a cognitive neuroscience theory of attention | |||||||||
| Keywords | *Attention *Distraction *Experimental Instructions *Spatial Perception *Visual Displays Reaction Time | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,865 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesRichard J. Krauzlis (2007). Target Selection, Attention, and the Superior Colliculus. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 30 (1):98-99.
R. W. Kentridge, L. H. de-Wit & C. A. Heywood (2008). What is Attended in Spatial Attention? Journal of Consciousness Studies 15 (4):105-111.
N. Meiran, Bernhard Hommel, U. Bibi & I. Lev (2002). Consciousness and Control in Task Switching. Journal of Consciousness Studies 11 (1):10-33.
Zenon W. Pylyshynb, Jacob Feldmanb & Brian J. Scholla (2001). What is a Visual Object? Evidence From Target Merging in Multiple Object Tracking. Cognition 80 (1-2):159-177.
Brian J. Scholla, What is a Visual Object? Evidence From Target Merging in Multiple Object Tracking.
G. Chastain & M. Cheal (1999). Attention Effects of Abrupt-Onset Precues with Central, Single-Element, and Multiple-Element Precues. Consciousness and Cognition 8 (4):510-528.
Bruce Bridgeman (1997). Attention Shuts Out Irrelevant Stimuli. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 20 (4):769-769.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads15 ( #79,639 of 556,773 )Recent downloads (6 months)6 ( #13,000 of 556,773 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
