Effect of Target Separation on Selective Attention

A visual search task, in which subjects searched circular stimulus displays for two instances of a prespecified target, was used to investigate the effects of target-separation on accuracy. When a comparison was made of the total number of targets correctly located at each separation, no significant differences were found, and this suggested that, within the range of separations (maximum of 2.53°) examined, the selective processing of the relevant items was not influenced by the distance separating them. Also, assuming that the redundancy of target items increased the probability of a target being perceived, the differences between the number of first targets correctly located and the number correct in a single target condition, were in the predicted direction. However, they failed to reach significance.

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Efficient Attentional Selection Predicts Distractor Devaluation: Event-related Potential Evidence for a Direct Link between Attention and Emotion

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2007.19.8.1316 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (8) ◽

pp. 1316-1322 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

Monika Kiss ◽

Brian A. Goolsby ◽

Jane E. Raymond ◽

Kimron L. Shapiro ◽

Laetitia Silvert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Emotional Responses ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Affective Evaluation ◽

Evaluative Judgments ◽

Attentional Selectivity

Links between attention and emotion were investigated by obtaining electrophysiological measures of attentional selectivity together with behavioral measures of affective evaluation. Participants were asked to rate faces that had just been presented as targets or distractors in a visual search task. Distractors were rated as less trustworthy than targets. To study the association between the efficiency of selective attention during visual search and subsequent emotional responses, the N2pc component was quantified as a function of evaluative judgments. Evaluation of distractor faces (but not target faces) covaried with selective attention. On trials where distractors were later judged negatively, the N2pc emerged earlier, demonstrating that attention was strongly biased toward target events, and distractors were effectively inhibited. When previous distractors were judged positively, the N2pc was delayed, indicating unfocused attention to the target and less distractor suppression. Variations in attentional selectivity across trials can predict subsequent emotional responses, strongly suggesting that attention is closely associated with subsequent affective evaluation.

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The Impact of Age on Visual Search Performance

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129303700203 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 172-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P. Manivannan ◽

Sara Czaja ◽

Colin Drury ◽

Chi Ming Ip

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Age Groups ◽

Search Performance ◽

Performance Effect ◽

Age Related ◽

The Impact

Visual search is an important component of many real world tasks such as industrial inspection and driving. Several studies have shown that age has an impact on visual search performance. In general older people demonstrate poorer performance on such tasks as compared to younger people. However, there is controversy regarding the source of the age-performance effect. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between component abilities and visual search performance, in order to identify the locus of age-related performance differences. Six abilities including reaction time, working memory, selective attention and spatial localization were identified as important components of visual search performance. Thirty-two subjects ranging in age from 18 - 84 years, categorized in three different age groups (young, middle, and older) participated in the study. Their component abilities were measured and they performed a visual search task. The visual search task varied in complexity in terms of type of targets detected. Significant relationships were found between some of the component skills and search performance. Significant age effects were also observed. A model was developed using hierarchical multiple linear regression to explain the variance in search performance. Results indicated that reaction time, selective attention, and age were important predictors of search performance with reaction time and selective attention accounting for most of the variance.

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Stimuli similarity in subsequent search misses

Experimental Psychology (Russia) ◽

10.17759/exppsy.2018110304 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 51-62

Author(s):

A.A. Lanina ◽

E.S. Gorbunova

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Target Detection ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Search Time ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

Target Condition ◽

Subsequent Search Misses ◽

Dual Target

The role of targets categorical similarity in subsequent search misses (SSM) effect, which assumes second target omission after the first target was found in visual search task, was observed. Participant’s task was to search for the targets (even or odd digits) among distracters (odd or ever digits, respectively). On each trial, it could be two, one or no targets. In dual target condition, the targets could be equal digits or different. 22 participants were tested, mean age — 18.73. Accuracy at detecting the second target after the first one was found was compared. Targets similarity had the significant effect on second target detection performance, F (1, 30) = 9.69, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.316, and on the search time, F (1, 31) = 28.29, p < 0.000, ηp2 = 0.574. In two dissimilar targets condition the participants missed the second target more often and found it slowly as compared to two similar targets condition. The results are discussed in the context perceptual set and resource depletion theories.

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The Role of Morningness and Endurance in Mood and Attention During Morning and Evening Hours

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000189 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 73-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Konrad S. Jankowski ◽

Marcin Zajenkowski

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Search Task ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Diurnal Variations ◽

Testing Session ◽

Hedonic Tone ◽

Polish Version

Abstract. This study aimed at testing the effects of morningness-eveningness and endurance on mood and selective attention during morning and evening hours. University students (N = 80) completed the Polish version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour-Temperament Inventory, and two testing sessions scheduled during the morning and evening hours. Each testing session consisted of completing the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist composed of three scales: energetic arousal (EA), tense arousal (TA), and hedonic tone (HT), and a computerized visual search task. Without consideration of morningness and endurance, a time-of-day effect appeared in the visual attention but not in affect: participants were more accurate and faster in the evening than in the morning. Considering morningness and endurance, neither of them influenced the selective attention but they did influence mood. Morningness influenced diurnal variations in EA and HT in such a way that from morning to evening hours, morning chronotypes showed a decrease and evening types an increase in EA and HT. During morning hours, morningness was related to higher EA and HT and lower TA, but endurance was not. During evening hours, morningness was unrelated to mood, but endurance was linked to higher EA. It is concluded that morningness and endurance impact mood differently throughout the day, with the role of morningness decreasing and the role of endurance increasing as the day progresses.

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Cuing Interacts with Perceptual Load in Visual Search

Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/1467-9280.00452 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 284-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Douglas N. Johnson ◽

Allison McGrath ◽

Carrie McNeil

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Search Task ◽

Perceptual Load ◽

Visual Search Task ◽

High Load ◽

Strong Form ◽

Attentional Selectivity

We tested the strong form of the perceptual-load hypothesis, which posits that the amount of perceptual load is the only factor determining whether attention can be effectively focused. Participants performed a visual search task under conditions of low and high load and with either a 100% valid spatial cue or no spatial cue. With no cue, participants showed evidence of processing to-be-ignored stimuli when perceptual load was low but not when it was high, consistent with the perceptual-load hypothesis. However, with a 100% valid spatial cue, participants showed little evidence of processing to-be-ignored stimuli, even when perceptual load was low. These results suggest that although perceptual load may be an important factor in attentional selectivity, load alone is not sufficient to explain how and when selective attention is effective.

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