scholarly journals Learning to Expect the Predictable: The Role of Expectation in the Cognitive Control of Attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Andre Botes
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Fourth Trial ◽  
Selection History ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Cost

<p>Some of the visual world is relevant to our goals and needs. Much more is not. A problem we face frequently in day-to-day living is that we are distracted by what is not relevant to our goals at the cost of attention towards what is. Emotional stimuli in particular have been shown to be very effective distractors, out-competing task-relevant stimuli for our attentional resources (Carretié, 2014; Pessoa, 2005; Pourtois et al., 2013).  How often emotional distractors occur can alter our ability to ignore them and remain task focussed (Grimshaw et al., 2018; Schmidts et al., 2020). The Dual Mechanisms of Control framework (Braver et al., 2007; Braver, 2012) suggests that, because we can expect upcoming distractors when they occur frequently, we can effectively avoid distraction through proactive control; the use of effortful preparatory cognitive control strategies.  That said, when distractors are frequent, we also become more experienced with them, and resolving the attentional conflict they create. The present investigation spanned two experiments assessing whether expectation of upcoming distractors would elicit proactive control while holding the experience of previous distractors constant. In Experiment 1 participants performed a simple perceptual task at fixation while neutral or negative task irrelevant images appeared peripherally on 25% of trials, either predictably in sequence (every fourth trial) or randomly. Expectation of distraction did not improve participants’ ability to avoid emotional distraction. A paradoxical expectation effect was also found wherein distraction was increased rather than decreased when distractors occurred predictably.  In Experiment 2 distractors appeared either predictably (every fourth trial), on a random 25% of trials, or on a random 75% of trials. However, neutral and emotional images were now presented at fixation with the perceptual task presented above and below. Greater distractor frequency led to lower distraction and expectation of upcoming distractors again did not improve control, although a paradoxical increase in distraction was not replicated.  Findings indicate that expectation of upcoming distractors alone is not sufficient to drive individuals to implement proactive control. Rather, distractor frequency is suggested to drive proactive control through implicit changes in top-down control settings based on experience. While the processes behind experience-driven proactive control are unclear, conflict adaptation and selection history are discussed as possible mechanisms of experience driven proactive control. Critically, present findings also indicate that emotional stimuli may present a unique challenge to our ability to control our attention.</p>

scholarly journals Learning to Expect the Predictable: The Role of Expectation in the Cognitive Control of Attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Andre Botes
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Fourth Trial ◽  
Selection History ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Cost

<p>Some of the visual world is relevant to our goals and needs. Much more is not. A problem we face frequently in day-to-day living is that we are distracted by what is not relevant to our goals at the cost of attention towards what is. Emotional stimuli in particular have been shown to be very effective distractors, out-competing task-relevant stimuli for our attentional resources (Carretié, 2014; Pessoa, 2005; Pourtois et al., 2013).  How often emotional distractors occur can alter our ability to ignore them and remain task focussed (Grimshaw et al., 2018; Schmidts et al., 2020). The Dual Mechanisms of Control framework (Braver et al., 2007; Braver, 2012) suggests that, because we can expect upcoming distractors when they occur frequently, we can effectively avoid distraction through proactive control; the use of effortful preparatory cognitive control strategies.  That said, when distractors are frequent, we also become more experienced with them, and resolving the attentional conflict they create. The present investigation spanned two experiments assessing whether expectation of upcoming distractors would elicit proactive control while holding the experience of previous distractors constant. In Experiment 1 participants performed a simple perceptual task at fixation while neutral or negative task irrelevant images appeared peripherally on 25% of trials, either predictably in sequence (every fourth trial) or randomly. Expectation of distraction did not improve participants’ ability to avoid emotional distraction. A paradoxical expectation effect was also found wherein distraction was increased rather than decreased when distractors occurred predictably.  In Experiment 2 distractors appeared either predictably (every fourth trial), on a random 25% of trials, or on a random 75% of trials. However, neutral and emotional images were now presented at fixation with the perceptual task presented above and below. Greater distractor frequency led to lower distraction and expectation of upcoming distractors again did not improve control, although a paradoxical increase in distraction was not replicated.  Findings indicate that expectation of upcoming distractors alone is not sufficient to drive individuals to implement proactive control. Rather, distractor frequency is suggested to drive proactive control through implicit changes in top-down control settings based on experience. While the processes behind experience-driven proactive control are unclear, conflict adaptation and selection history are discussed as possible mechanisms of experience driven proactive control. Critically, present findings also indicate that emotional stimuli may present a unique challenge to our ability to control our attention.</p>

scholarly journals Motivation enhances control of positive and negative emotional distractions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Teresa Walsh ◽  
David Carmel ◽  
David Harper ◽  
Gina M. Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Task Motivation ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Distraction ◽  
Do So

Using cognitive control to ignore distractions is essential for successfully achieving our goals. In emotionally-neutral contexts, motivation can reduce interference from irrelevant stimuli by enhancing cognitive control. However, attention is commonly biased towards emotional stimuli, making them potent distractors. Can motivation aid control of emotional distractions, and does it do so similarly for positive and negative stimuli? Here, we examined how task motivation influences control of distraction from positive, negative, and neutral scenes. Participants completed a simple perceptual task while attempting to ignore task-irrelevant images. One group received monetary reward for fast and accurate task performance; another (control) group did not. Overall, both negative (mutilation) and positive (erotic) images caused greater slowing of responses than neutral images of people, but emotional distraction was reduced with reward. Crucially, despite the different motivational directions associated with negative and positive stimuli, reward reduced negative and positive distraction equally. Our findings suggest that motivation may encourage the use of a sustained proactive control strategy that can effectively reduce the impact of emotional distraction.

scholarly journals Contrasting reactive and proactive control of emotional distraction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina M. Grimshaw ◽  
Laura Kranz ◽  
David Carmel ◽  
Rosie Moody ◽  
Christel Devue
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Adaptive Processing ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Emotional Distraction

Attending to emotional stimuli is often beneficial, because they provide important social and environmental cues. Sometimes, however, current goals require that we ignore them. To what extent can we control emotional distraction? Here we show that the ability to ignore emotional distractions depends on the type of cognitive control that is engaged. Participants completed a simple perceptual task at fixation while irrelevant images appeared peripherally. In two experiments, we manipulated the proportion of trials in which images appeared, in order to encourage use of either reactive control (rare distractors) or proactive control (frequent distractors). Under reactive control, both negative and positive images were more distracting than neutral images, even though they were irrelevant and appeared in unattended locations. However, under proactive control, distraction by both emotional and neutral images was eliminated. Proactive control was triggered by the meaning, and not the location, of distracting images. Our findings argue against simple bottom-up or top-down explanations of emotional distraction, and instead show how the flexible use of cognitive control supports adaptive processing of emotional distractors.

scholarly journals Lack of Free Choice Reveals the Cost of Having to Search for More Than One Object

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1137-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduard Ort ◽  
Johannes J. Fahrenfort ◽  
Christian N. L. Olivers
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Multiple Target ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Reactive Mechanism

It is debated whether people can actively search for more than one object or whether this results in switch costs. Using a gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm, we revealed a crucial role for cognitive control in multiple-target search. We instructed participants to simultaneously search for two target objects presented among distractors. In one condition, both targets were available, which gave the observer free choice of what to search for and allowed for proactive control. In the other condition, only one of the two targets was available, so that the choice was imposed, and a reactive mechanism would be required. No switch costs emerged when target choice was free, but switch costs emerged reliably when targets were imposed. Bridging contradictory findings, the results are consistent with models of visual selection in which only one attentional template actively drives selection and in which the efficiency of switching targets depends on the type of cognitive control allowed for by the environment.

scholarly journals Frontal midline theta differentiates separate cognitive control strategies while still generalizing the need for cognitive control

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarrod Eisma ◽  
Eric Rawls ◽  
Stephanie Long ◽  
Russell Mach ◽  
Connie Lamm
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Control Strategy ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Response Conflict ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Theta Power ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Frontal Midline Theta

AbstractCognitive control processes encompass many distinct components, including response inhibition (stopping a prepotent response), proactive control (using prior information to enact control), reactive control (last-minute changing of a prepotent response), and conflict monitoring (choosing between two competing responses). While frontal midline theta activity is theorized to be a general marker of the need for cognitive control, a stringent test of this hypothesis would require a quantitative, within-subject comparison of the neural activation patterns indexing many different cognitive control strategies, an experiment lacking in the current literature. We recorded EEG from 176 participants as they performed tasks that tested inhibitory control (Go/Nogo Task), proactive and reactive control (AX-Continuous Performance Task), and resolving response conflict (Global/Local Task-modified Flanker Task). As activity in the theta (4–8 Hz) frequency band is thought to be a common signature of cognitive control, we assessed frontal midline theta activation underlying each cognitive control strategy. In all strategies, we found higher frontal midline theta power for trials that required more cognitive control (target conditions) versus control conditions. Additionally, reactive control and inhibitory control had higher theta power than proactive control and response conflict, and proactive control had higher theta power than response conflict. Using decoding analyses, we were able to successfully decode control from target trials using classifiers trained exclusively on each of the other strategies, thus firmly demonstrating that theta representations of cognitive control generalize across multiple cognitive control strategies. Our results confirm that frontal midline theta-band activity is a common mechanism for initiating and executing cognitive control, but theta power also differentiates between cognitive control mechanisms. As theta activation reliably differs depending on the cognitive control strategy employed, future work will need to focus on the differential role of theta in differing cognitive control strategies.

scholarly journals Too anxious to control: the relation between math anxiety and inhibitory control processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Van den Bussche ◽  
K. Vanmeert ◽  
B. Aben ◽  
D. Sasanguie
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Control Theory ◽  
Math Anxiety ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Control Function ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Task Context ◽  
Task Irrelevant

AbstractBased on the attentional control theory, math anxiety has been explained in terms of impaired inhibition, a key cognitive control function associated with the central executive. Inhibition allows us to suppress task-irrelevant interference when needed. Inspired by the Dual Mechanisms of Control theory, the current study aimed to disentangle the effect of math anxiety on two cognitive control aspects that can be identified in inhibition. Reactive control occurs after interference is detected and is mostly used in a context where interference is scarce. Proactive control is used to prevent and anticipate interference before it occurs and is preferred in contexts where interference is frequent. We used an arrow flanker task where the proportion of interference was manipulated to stimulate the use of a reactive or proactive control strategy. The results showed that response times on trials containing interference increased with math anxiety, but only in a reactive task context. In a proactive task context response times were not influenced by math anxiety. Our results suggest that math anxiety impairs reactive control. We hypothesize that this finding can be explained by a higher state of distractibility, triggered both by the reactive context and by math anxiety.

scholarly journals Cognitive flexibility improves memory for delayed intentions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth R. Koslov ◽  
Arjun Mukerji ◽  
Katlyn Rose Hedgpeth ◽  
Jarrod Lewis-Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Control Strategy ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Proactive Control ◽  
Reactive Control ◽  
Attentional Demands ◽  
Dynamic Task

Cognitive control involves the allocation of cognitive resources in order to successfully navigate and interact with the world. Oftentimes, control involves balancing the demands brought on by performing immediately relevant tasks and those required in order to perform future intended actions. For example, directing attention towards navigating through traffic on a highway while also needing to remember to exit the freeway at a particular street. This ability to delay execution of a goal until the appropriate time in the future is referred to as prospective memory (PM). The dual mechanisms of cognitive control (DMC) framework posits that individuals can use two different strategies to remember an intended action: a proactive control strategy involving working memory maintenance of the goal and monitoring of the environment, or a reactive control strategy relying on timely retrieval of goal information from episodic memory. Previous research on prospective memory has demonstrated that performance improves when individuals engage these control strategies in accordance with the demands of the task environment. However, it is unclear how people select a control strategy, particularly in situations with dynamic task demands. We hypothesized that if people flexibly adapt their strategy in response to changes in the environment, this should facilitate prospective memory. Across two experiments, we asked participants to identify the reappearance of a picture target (a prospective memory intention) while at the same time performing an ongoing visual search task. The attentional demands of the ongoing task were manipulated to monotonically increase or decrease on a moment to moment basis. The selection of control strategies was identified using reaction time costs and neural measures of intention maintenance. Results showed that people fluidly modified control strategies, shifting towards proactive control when the attentional demands decreased, and shifting towards reactive control when attentional demands increased. Critically, these adaptive shifts in control strategy were associated with better prospective memory performance. These results demonstrate that fine-grained control of attention and memory resources serves an adaptive role for remembering to carry out future plans.

Exploring an Emotional Basis of Cognitive Control in the Flanker Task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motonori Yamaguchi ◽  
Jack Dylan Moore ◽  
Sarah Hendry ◽  
Felicity Wolohan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Flanker Effect ◽  
Sequential Modulation ◽  
Emotional Basis ◽  
Negative Stimuli

The emotional basis of cognitive control has been investigated in the flanker task with various procedures and materials across different studies. The present study examined the issue with the same flanker task but with different types of emotional stimuli and design. In seven experiments, the flanker effect and its sequential modulation according to the preceding trial type were assessed. Experiments 1 and 2 used affective pictures and emotional facial expressions as emotional stimuli, and positive and negative stimuli were intermixed. There was little evidence that emotional stimuli influenced cognitive control. Experiments 3 and 4 used the same affective pictures and facial expressions, but positive and negative stimuli were separated between different participant groups. Emotional stimuli reduced the flanker effect as well as its sequential modulation regardless of valence. Experiments 5 and 6 used affective pictures but manipulated arousal and valence of stimuli orthogonally The results did not replicate the reduced flanker effect or sequential modulation by valence, nor did they show consistent effects of arousal. Experiment 7 used a mood induction technique and showed that sequential modulation was positively correlated with valence rating (the higher the more positive) but was negatively correlated with arousal rating. These results are inconsistent with several previous findings and are difficult to reconcile within a single theoretical framework, confirming an elusive nature of the emotional basis of cognitive control in the flanker task.

scholarly journals Model Predictive Control Strategies to Activate the Energy Flexibility for Zones with Hydronic Radiant Systems

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1195
Author(s):  
Ali Saberi Derakhtenjani ◽  
Andreas K. Athienitis
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
High Price ◽  
Electricity Prices ◽  
Peak Demand ◽  
Heating Systems ◽  
Electrical Grid ◽  
Demand Reduction ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Floor System ◽  
Radiant Floor Heating

This paper presents control strategies to activate energy flexibility for zones with radiant heating systems in response to changes in electricity prices. The focus is on zones with radiant floor heating systems for which the hydronic pipes are located deep in the concrete and, therefore, there is a significant thermal lag. A perimeter zone test-room equipped with a hydronic radiant floor system in an environmental chamber is used as a case study. A low order thermal network model for the perimeter zone, validated with experimental measurements, is utilized to study various control strategies in response to changes in the electrical grid price signal, including short term (nearly reactive) changes of the order of 10–15 min notice. An index is utilized to quantify the building energy flexibility with the focus on peak demand reduction for specific periods of time when the electricity prices are higher than usual. It is shown that the developed control strategies can aid greatly in enhancing the zone energy flexibility and minimizing the cost of electricity and up to 100% reduction in peak power demand and energy consumption is attained during the high-price and peak-demand periods, while maintaining acceptable comfort conditions.

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