scholarly journals The Effects of Task-irrelevant Color Uniformity in Attentional Blink

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-293
Author(s):  
김장진 ◽  
Min-Shik Kim
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Color Uniformity ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Visual disgust-elicitors produce an attentional blink independent of contextual and trait-level pathogen avoidance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Perone ◽  
David Vaughn Becker ◽  
Joshua M. Tybur
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Trait Level ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

Multiple studies report that disgust-eliciting stimuli are perceived as salient and subsequently capture selective attention. In the current study, we aimed to better understand the nature of temporal attentional biases toward disgust-eliciting stimuli and to investigate the extent to which these biases are sensitive to contextual and trait-level pathogen avoidance motives. Participants (N=116) performed in an Emotional Attentional Blink (EAB) task in which task-irrelevant disgust-eliciting, fear-eliciting, or neutral images preceded a target by 200, 500, or 800 milliseconds (i.e., lag two, five and eight respectively). They did so twice - once while not exposed to an odor, and once while exposed to either an odor that elicited disgust or an odor that did not - and completed a measure of disgust sensitivity. Results indicate that disgust-eliciting visual stimuli produced a greater attentional blink than neutral visual stimuli at lag two and a greater attentional blink than fear-eliciting visual stimuli at both lag two and at lag five. Neither the odor manipulations nor individual differences measures moderated this effect. We propose that visual attention is engaged for a longer period of time following disgust-eliciting stimuli because covert processes automatically initiate the evaluation of pathogen threats. The fact that state and trait pathogen avoidance do not influence this temporal attentional bias suggests that early attentional processing of pathogen cues is initiated independent from the context in which such cues are perceived.

scholarly journals Dissociating Reward- and Attention-driven Biasing of Global Feature-based Selection in Human Visual Cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haydee G. Garcia-Lazaro ◽  
Mandy V. Bartsch ◽  
Carsten N. Boehler ◽  
Ruth M. Krebs ◽  
Sarah E. Donohue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Target Color ◽  
Selective Area ◽  
Early Visual Cortex ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Attention Demands

Objects that promise rewards are prioritized for visual selection. The way this prioritization shapes sensory processing in visual cortex, however, is debated. It has been suggested that rewards motivate stronger attentional focusing, resulting in a modulation of sensory selection in early visual cortex. An open question is whether those reward-driven modulations would be independent of similar modulations indexing the selection of attended features that are not associated with reward. Here, we use magnetoencephalography in human observers to investigate whether the modulations indexing global color-based selection in visual cortex are separable for target- and (monetary) reward-defining colors. To assess the underlying global color-based activity modulation, we compare the event-related magnetic field response elicited by a color probe in the unattended hemifield drawn either in the target color, the reward color, both colors, or a neutral task-irrelevant color. To test whether target and reward relevance trigger separable modulations, we manipulate attention demands on target selection while keeping reward-defining experimental parameters constant. Replicating previous observations, we find that reward and target relevance produce almost indistinguishable gain modulations in ventral extratriate cortex contralateral to the unattended color probe. Importantly, increasing attention demands on target discrimination increases the response to the target-defining color, whereas the response to the rewarded color remains largely unchanged. These observations indicate that, although task relevance and reward influence the very same feature-selective area in extrastriate visual cortex, the associated modulations are largely independent.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of expectations and stimulus relevance on stimulus-specific neural representations and conscious report

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik L Meijs ◽  
Pim Mostert ◽  
Heleen A Slagter ◽  
Floris P de Lange ◽  
Simon van Gaal
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Dependent Signal ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Abstract Subjective experience can be influenced by top-down factors, such as expectations and stimulus relevance. Recently, it has been shown that expectations can enhance the likelihood that a stimulus is consciously reported, but the neural mechanisms supporting this enhancement are still unclear. We manipulated stimulus expectations within the attentional blink (AB) paradigm using letters and combined visual psychophysics with magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings to investigate whether prior expectations may enhance conscious access by sharpening stimulus-specific neural representations. We further explored how stimulus-specific neural activity patterns are affected by the factors expectation, stimulus relevance and conscious report. First, we show that valid expectations about the identity of an upcoming stimulus increase the likelihood that it is consciously reported. Second, using a series of multivariate decoding analyses, we show that the identity of letters presented in and out of the AB can be reliably decoded from MEG data. Third, we show that early sensory stimulus-specific neural representations are similar for reported and missed target letters in the AB task (active report required) and an oddball task in which the letter was clearly presented but its identity was task-irrelevant. However, later sustained and stable stimulus-specific representations were uniquely observed when target letters were consciously reported (decision-dependent signal). Fourth, we show that global pre-stimulus neural activity biased perceptual decisions for a ‘seen’ response. Fifth and last, no evidence was obtained for the sharpening of sensory representations by top-down expectations. We discuss these findings in light of emerging models of perception and conscious report highlighting the role of expectations and stimulus relevance.

scholarly journals Task-Irrelevant Features in Visual Working Memory Influence Covert Attention: Evidence from a Partial Report Task

Vision ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Foerster ◽  
Werner X. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Shape Matching ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Partial Report ◽  
Target Color ◽  
Color Target ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Selecting a target based on a representation in visual working memory (VWM) affords biasing covert attention towards objects with memory-matching features. Recently, we showed that even task-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention. Specifically, when participants had to saccade to a cued shape, distractors sharing the cue’s search-irrelevant color captured the eyes. While a saccade always aims at one target location, multiple locations can be attended covertly. Here, we investigated whether covert attention is captured similarly as the eyes. In our partial report task, each trial started with a shape-defined search cue, followed by a fixation cross. Next, two colored shapes, each including a letter, appeared left and right from fixation, followed by masks. The letter inside that shape matching the preceding cue had to be reported. In Experiment 1, either target, distractor, both, or no object matched the cue’s irrelevant color. Target-letter reports were most frequent in target-match trials and least frequent in distractor-match trials. Irrelevant cue and target color never matched in Experiment 2. Still, participants reported the distractor more often to the target’s disadvantage, when cue and distractor color matched. Thus, irrelevant features of a VWM template can influence covert attention in an involuntarily object-based manner when searching for trial-wise varying targets.

scholarly journals Object-based Selection of Irrelevant Features Is Not Confined to the Attended Object

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2231-2239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten N. Boehler ◽  
Mircea A. Schoenfeld ◽  
Hans-Jochen Heinze ◽  
Jens-Max Hopf
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Irrelevant Feature ◽  
Distractor Object ◽  
Object Based ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Selection Of

Attention to one feature of an object can bias the processing of unattended features of that object. Here we demonstrate with ERPs in visual search that this object-based bias for an irrelevant feature also appears in an unattended object when it shares that feature with the target object. Specifically, we show that the ERP response elicited by a distractor object in one visual field is modulated as a function of whether a task-irrelevant color of that distractor is also present in the target object that is presented in the opposite visual field. Importantly, we find this modulation to arise with a delay of approximately 80 msec relative to the N2pc—a component of the ERP response that reflects the focusing of attention onto the target. In a second experiment, we demonstrate that this modulation reflects enhanced neural processing in the unattended object. These observations together facilitate the surprising conclusion that the object-based selection of irrelevant features is spatially global even after attention has selected the target object.

scholarly journals Task-irrelevant visual motion and flicker attenuate the attentional blink

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Arend ◽  
Stephen Johnston ◽  
Kimron Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Task Irrelevant

scholarly journals Surprise-induced Deafness: Unexpected Auditory Stimuli Capture Attention to the Detriment of Subsequent Detection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Obana ◽  
Stephen Wee Hun Lim ◽  
Christopher L. Asplund
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Auditory Presentation ◽  
Natural Sounds ◽  
Probe Detection ◽  
Perceptual Deficit ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Our attention is often captured by unexpected or unusual sounds. Such stimulus- driven control of attention can be adaptive, as potentially relevant events need to be quickly evaluated and acted upon. Attentional capture, however, comes with a cost: Ongoing tasks may be disrupted. In a series of seven experiments (n=773), we investigated the effects of task-irrelevant, rare, and relatively unexpected sounds (“surprise stimuli”) on probe detection in rapid auditory presentation (RAP) streams. Surprise stimuli caused “Surprise-induced Deafness” (SiD), a severe detection deficit that lasted for under one second within each trial and gradually habituated across several trials. SiD was sensitive to informational “surprise”, with larger deficits following stimuli that were infrequent or varied across trials. The effect also generalized: Natural sounds or constructed stimuli could disrupt detection of either spoken letters or simple tones. We also compared SiD to the auditory attentional blink (AAB), a similar paradigm in which goal-directed target processing disrupts probe detection. We found that the two deficits were weakly correlated. We conclude that SiD is a novel perceptual deficit that primarily reflects stimulus-driven attentional capture. It may involve other forms of attentional control as well, thereby reflecting multiple attentional influences on awareness.

Reward- and Attention-related Biasing of Sensory Selection in Visual Cortex

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1049-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Buschschulte ◽  
Carsten N. Boehler ◽  
Hendrik Strumpf ◽  
Christian Stoppel ◽  
Hans-Jochen Heinze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Extrastriate Cortex ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Extrastriate Visual Cortex ◽  
Response Enhancement ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Attention To Task

Attention to task-relevant features leads to a biasing of sensory selection in extrastriate cortex. Features signaling reward seem to produce a similar bias, but how modulatory effects due to reward and attention relate to each other is largely unexplored. To address this issue, it is critical to separate top–down settings defining reward relevance from those defining attention. To this end, we used a visual search paradigm in which the target's definition (attention to color) was dissociated from reward relevance by delivering monetary reward on search frames where a certain task-irrelevant color was combined with the target-defining color to form the target object. We assessed the state of neural biasing for the attended and reward-relevant color by analyzing the neuromagnetic brain response to asynchronously presented irrelevant distractor probes drawn in the target-defining color, the reward-relevant color, and a completely irrelevant color as a reference. We observed that for the prospect of moderate rewards, the target-defining color but not the reward-relevant color produced a selective enhancement of the neuromagnetic response between 180 and 280 msec in ventral extrastriate visual cortex. Increasing reward prospect caused a delayed attenuation (220–250 msec) of the response to reward probes, which followed a prior (160–180 msec) response enhancement in dorsal ACC. Notably, shorter latency responses in dorsal ACC were associated with stronger attenuation in extrastriate visual cortex. Finally, an analysis of the brain response to the search frames revealed that the presence of the reward-relevant color in search distractors elicited an enhanced response that was abolished after increasing reward size. The present data together indicate that when top–down definitions of reward relevance and attention are separated, the behavioral significance of reward-associated features is still rapidly coded in higher-level cortex areas, thereby commanding effective top–down inhibitory control to counter a selection bias for those features in extrastriate visual cortex.

Attentional Capture by Salient Distractors during Visual Search Is Determined by Temporal Task Demands

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Kiss ◽  
Anna Grubert ◽  
Anders Petersen ◽  
Martin Eimer
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Response Onset ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant

The question whether attentional capture by salient but task-irrelevant visual stimuli is triggered in a bottom–up fashion or depends on top–down task settings is still unresolved. Strong support for bottom–up capture was obtained in the additional singleton task, in which search arrays were visible until response onset. Equally strong evidence for top–down control of attentional capture was obtained in spatial cueing experiments in which display durations were very brief. To demonstrate the critical role of temporal task demands on salience-driven attentional capture, we measured ERP indicators of capture by task-irrelevant color singletons in search arrays that could also contain a shape target. In Experiment 1, all displays were visible until response onset. In Experiment 2, display duration was limited to 200 msec. With long display durations, color singleton distractors elicited an N2pc component that was followed by a late Pd component, suggesting that they triggered attentional capture, which was later replaced by location-specific inhibition. When search arrays were visible for only 200 msec, the distractor-elicited N2pc was eliminated and was replaced by a Pd component in the same time range, indicative of rapid suppression of capture. Results show that attentional capture by salient distractors can be inhibited for short-duration search displays, in which it would interfere with target processing. They demonstrate that salience-driven capture is not a purely bottom–up phenomenon but is subject to top–down control.

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