Cueing Employability in the Gig Economy: Effects of Task-Relevant and Task-Irrelevant Information on Fiverr

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb T. Carr ◽  
Robert D. Hall ◽  
Adam J. Mason ◽  
Eric J. Varney
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Job Skills ◽  
Job Fit ◽  
Stimulus Contrast ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
And Task

When evaluating an applicant online, individuals are often concurrently exposed to a diverse cross-section of self- and other-generated information with varying relevance to the candidate’s actual job skills. Moreover, these various data may not always be internally consistent. Utilizing profiles on the microtask site Fiverr, a fully-crossed 2 × 2 × 2 experiment (N= 92) tested main and interaction effects of exposure positively- and negatively-valenced (1) self-generated task-relevant, (2) self-generated task-irrlevant photographic, and (3) other-generated task-relevant information, all within the same stimulus. Contrast analyses results support significant interactions among cues on perceptions of an applicants’ employability and person-job fit. The significant two- and three-way interactions are discussed with respect to warranting theory and the halo effect, and practical implications for applicants and employers are presented.

scholarly journals A bimodal extension of the Eriksen flanker task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Ulrich ◽  
Laura Prislan ◽  
Jeff Miller
Keyword(s):  
Visual Target ◽  
Target Item ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Response Competition ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Flanker Effect ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract The Eriksen flanker task is a traditional conflict paradigm for studying the influence of task-irrelevant information on the processing of task-relevant information. In this task, participants are asked to respond to a visual target item (e.g., a letter) that is flanked by task-irrelevant items (e.g., also letters). Responses are typically faster and more accurate when the task-irrelevant information is response-congruent with the visual target than when it is incongruent. Several researchers have attributed the starting point of this flanker effect to poor selective filtering at a perceptual level (e.g., spotlight models), which subsequently produces response competition at post-perceptual stages. The present study examined whether a flanker-like effect could also be established within a bimodal analog of the flanker task with auditory irrelevant letters and visual target letters, which must be processed along different processing routes. The results of two experiments revealed that a flanker-like effect is also present with bimodal stimuli. In contrast to the unimodal flanker task, however, the effect only emerged when flankers and targets shared the same letter name, but not when they were different letters mapped onto the same response. We conclude that the auditory flankers can influence the time needed to recognize visual targets but do not directly activate their associated responses.

scholarly journals Selection and suppression of visual information in the macaque prefrontal cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Di Bello ◽  
S. Ben Hadj Hassen ◽  
E. Astrand ◽  
S. Ben Hamed
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Cognitive Framework ◽  
Task Irrelevant

AbstractIn everyday life, we are continuously struggling at focusing on our current goals while at the same time avoiding distractions. Attention is the neuro-cognitive process devoted to the selection of behaviorally relevant sensory information while at the same time preventing distraction by irrelevant information. Visual selection can be implemented by both long-term (learning-based spatial prioritization) and short term (dynamic spatial attention) mechanisms. On the other hand, distraction can be prevented proactively, by strategically prioritizing task-relevant information at the expense of irrelevant information, or reactively, by actively suppressing the processing of distractors. The distinctive neuronal signature of each of these four processes is largely unknown. Likewise, how selection and suppression mechanisms interact to drive perception has never been explored neither at the behavioral nor at the neuronal level. Here, we apply machine-learning decoding methods to prefrontal cortical (PFC) activity to monitor dynamic spatial attention with an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This leads to several novel observations. We first identify independent behavioral and neuronal signatures for learning-based attention prioritization and dynamic attentional selection. Second, we identify distinct behavioral and neuronal signatures for proactive and reactive suppression mechanisms. We find that while distracting task-relevant information is suppressed proactively, task-irrelevant information is suppressed reactively. Critically, we show that distractor suppression, whether proactive or reactive, strongly depends on both learning-based attention prioritization and dynamic attentional selection. Overall, we thus provide a unified neuro-cognitive framework describing how the prefrontal cortex implements spatial selection and distractor suppression in order to flexibly optimize behavior in dynamic environments.

scholarly journals Prefrontal control of visual distraction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Cosman ◽  
Geoffrey F. Woodman ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Extrastriate Cortex ◽  
Neural Firing ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Task Irrelevant

SummaryAvoiding distraction by salient irrelevant stimuli is critical to accomplishing daily tasks. Regions of prefrontal cortex control attention by enhancing the representation of task-relevant information in sensory cortex, which can be measured directly in modulation of both single neurons and averaging of the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram [1,2]. However, when irrelevant information is particularly conspicuous, it may distract attention and interfere with the selection of behaviorally relevant information. Many studies have shown that that distraction can be minimized via top-down control [3–5], but the cognitive and neural mechanisms giving rise to this control over distraction remain uncertain and vigorously debated [6–8]. Bridging neurophysiology to electrophysiology, we simultaneously recorded neurons in prefrontal cortex and event-related potentials (ERPs) over extrastriate visual cortex to track the processing of salient distractors during a visual search task. Critically, we observed robust suppression of salient distractor representations in both cortical areas, with suppression arising in prefrontal cortex before being manifest in the ERP signal over extrastriate cortex. Furthermore, only prefrontal neurons that participated in selecting the task-relevant target also showed suppression of the task-irrelevant distractor. This suggests a common prefrontal mechanism for target selection and distractor suppression, with input from prefrontal cortex being responsible for both selecting task-relevant and suppressing task-irrelevant information in sensory cortex. Taken together, our results resolve a long-standing debate over the mechanisms that prevent distraction, and provide the first evidence directly linking suppressed neural firing in prefrontal cortex with surface ERP measures of distractor suppression.

Sequential Modulations of Valence Processing in the Emotional Stroop Task

2008 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfried Kunde ◽  
Nadine Mauer
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Task ◽  
Preceding Trial ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Emotional Stroop ◽  
Emotional Stroop Task ◽  
Affective Content ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
And Task

Abstract. This study investigated trial-to-trial modulations of the processing of irrelevant valence information. Participants (N = 126) responded to the frame color of pictures with positive, neutral, or negative affective content - a procedure known as an emotional Stroop task (EST). As is typically found, positive and negative pictures delayed responses as compared to neutral pictures. However, the type and extent of this valence-based interference depended on the irrelevant picture valence in the preceding trial. Whereas preceding exposure to negative valence prompted interference from positive and negative pictures, such interference was removed after neutral trials. Following positive pictures, interference from negative but not from positive pictures was observed. We suggest that these sequential modulations reflect automatic self-regulatory selection processes that help to keep the balance between attending to task-relevant information and task-irrelevant information that signals important changes in the environment.

scholarly journals Distractor Ignoring: Strategies, Learning, and Passive Filtering

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 600-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy J. Geng ◽  
Bo-Yeong Won ◽  
Nancy B. Carlisle
Keyword(s):  
Target Selection ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Selection Of

Our sensory environments contain more information than we can process, and successful behaviors require the ability to separate task-relevant information from task-irrelevant information. Much research on attention has focused on the mechanisms that result in selection of desired information, but much less is known about how distracting information is ignored. Here, we describe evidence that strategic, learned, and passive information can all contribute to better distractor ignoring. The evidence suggests that there are multiple ways in which distractor ignoring is supported, and these ways may be different from those of target selection. Future work will need to identify the mechanisms by which each source of information adjusts attentional priority such that irrelevant information is better ignored.

Task-Relevance Modulates the Effects of Peripheral Distractors

2007 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 1216-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limor Lichtenstein-Vidne ◽  
Avishai Henik ◽  
Ziad Safadi
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
Task Relevance ◽  
Task Irrelevant

The current study investigated whether task-relevant information affects performance differently from how information that is not relevant for the task does when presented peripherally and centrally. In three experiments a target appeared inside the focus of attention, whereas a to-be-ignored distractor appeared either in the periphery (Experiments 1 and 2) or at the centre (Experiment 3) of attention. In each trial the distractor carried both task-relevant and irrelevant information. The results confirmed the “task relevance” hypothesis: Task-irrelevant information affected performance only when it appeared at the centre of attention, whereas task-relevant information affected performance when it appeared inside as well as outside the main focus of attention. The current results do not support suggestions that spatial stimuli (e.g., arrows) draw attention automatically regardless of task relevance.

scholarly journals Ten simple rules to study distractor suppression

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Wöstmann ◽  
Viola S. Störmer ◽  
Jonas Obleser ◽  
Douglas A Addleman ◽  
Søren Andersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Simple Rules ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
And Task

Distractor suppression refers to the ability to filter out distracting and task-irrelevant information. Distractor suppression is essential for survival and considered a key aspect of selective attention. Despite the recent and rapidly evolving literature on distractor suppression, we still know little about how distracting information is suppressed. What limits progress is that we lack mutually agreed upon principles of how to study distractor suppression. Here, we offer ten simple rules that we believe are fundamental when investigating distractor suppression. We provide guidelines on how to design conclusive experiments on distractor suppression (Rules 1-3), discuss different types of distractor suppression that need to be distinguished (Rules 4-6), and provide an overview of models of distractor suppression and considerations of how to evaluate distractor suppression statistically (Rules 7-10). Together, these rules provide a concise and comprehensive synopsis of promising advances in the field of distractor suppression. Following these rules will propel research on distractor suppression in important ways, not only by highlighting prominent issues to both new and more advanced researchers in the field, but also by facilitating communication between sub-disciplines.

scholarly journals fMRI Studies of Stroop Tasks Reveal Unique Roles of Anterior and Posterior Brain Systems in Attentional Selection

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 988-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie T. Banich ◽  
Michael P. Milham ◽  
Ruthann Atchley ◽  
Neal J. Cohen ◽  
Andrew Webb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Color Word ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Differential Sensitivity ◽  
Attentional Demands ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Word Task ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Stroop Tasks

The brain's attentional system identifies and selects information that is task-relevant while ignoring information that is task-irrelevant. In two experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the effects of varying task-relevant information compared to task-irrelevant information. In the first experiment, we compared patterns of activation as attentional demands were increased for two Stroop tasks that differed in the task-relevant information, but not the task-irrelevant information: a color-word task and a spatial-word task. Distinct subdivisions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the precuneus became activated for each task, indicating differential sensitivity of these regions to task-relevant information (e.g., spatial information vs. color). In the second experiment, we compared patterns of activation with increased attentional demands for two Stroop tasks that differed in task-irrelevant information, but not task-relevant information: a color-word task and color-object task. Little differentiation in activation for dorsolateral prefrontal and precuneus regions was observed, indicating a relative insensitivity of these regions to task-irrelevant information. However, we observed a differentiation in the pattern of activity for posterior regions. There were unique areas of activation in parietal regions for the color-word task and in occipito-temporal regions for the color-object task. No increase in activation was observed in regions responsible for processing the perceptual attribute of color. The results of this second experiment indicate that attentional selection in tasks such as the Stroop task, which contain multiple potential sources of relevant information (e.g., the word vs. its ink color), acts more by modulating the processing of task-irrelevant information than by modulating processing of task-relevant information.

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