scholarly journals Attention shifts to more complex locations with experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Forest ◽  
Noam Siegelman ◽  
Amy Finn

Our environments are saturated with learnable information. What determines which of this information gets prioritized for limited attentional resources? While previous studies suggest that learners prefer medium complexity information, here we argue that what counts as medium should change as someone learns an input's structure. Specifically, we examined the hypothesis that attention is directed towards more complicated structures as learners gain more experience with the environment. Participants watched four simultaneous streams of information which varied in complexity. Reaction times to intermittent search trials (Ex. 1, N=75) and eye-tracking (Ex. 2, N=45) indexed where participants attended over the experiment. Using a subject- and trial-specific measure of complexity, we demonstrated that participants attended to increasingly complex streams over time. Individual differences in structure learning also modulated attention allocation, with better learners attending to complex structures from earlier in learning, suggesting the ability to prioritize different information over time gates structure learning success.

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie von Stumm

Intelligence-as-knowledge in adulthood is influenced by individual differences in intelligence-as-process (i.e., fluid intelligence) and in personality traits that determine when, where, and how people invest their intelligence over time. Here, the relationship between two investment traits (i.e., Openness to Experience and Need for Cognition), intelligence-as-process and intelligence-as-knowledge, as assessed by a battery of crystallized intelligence tests and a new knowledge measure, was examined. The results showed that (1) both investment traits were positively associated with intelligence-as-knowledge; (2) this effect was stronger for Openness to Experience than for Need for Cognition; and (3) associations between investment and intelligence-as-knowledge reduced when adjusting for intelligence-as-process but remained mostly significant.


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
María José Contreras ◽  
Víctor J. Rubio ◽  
Daniel Peña ◽  
José Santacreu

Individual differences in performance when solving spatial tasks can be partly explained by differences in the strategies used. Two main difficulties arise when studying such strategies: the identification of the strategy itself and the stability of the strategy over time. In the present study strategies were separated into three categories: segmented (analytic), holistic-feedback dependent, and holistic-planned, according to the procedure described by Peña, Contreras, Shih, and Santacreu (2008) . A group of individuals were evaluated twice on a 1-year test-retest basis. During the 1-year interval between tests, the participants were not able to prepare for the specific test used in this study or similar ones. It was found that 60% of the individuals kept the same strategy throughout the tests. When strategy changes did occur, they were usually due to a better strategy. These results prove the robustness of using strategy-based procedures for studying individual differences in spatial tasks.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-226
Author(s):  
Katharina Schmitte ◽  
Bert Schreurs ◽  
Mien Segers ◽  
I. M. “Jim” Jawahar

Abstract. Adopting a within-person perspective, we theorize why ingratiation use directed toward an authority figure increases over time and for whom. We posit that as the appraisal event draws closer, the salience of achieving good evaluations increases, leading to an increasing use of ingratiation. We further propose that the increase will be stronger for individuals with low relative to high self-esteem. Participants were 349 students enrolled in a small-group, tutor-led management course. Data were collected in three bi-weekly waves and analyzed using random coefficient modeling. Results show that ingratiation use increased as time to the evaluation decreased, and low self-esteem students ingratiated more as time progressed. We conclude that ingratiation use varies as a function of contextual and inter-individual differences.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110173
Author(s):  
Nadin Beckmann ◽  
Damian P Birney ◽  
Amirali Minbashian ◽  
Jens F Beckmann

The study aimed to investigate the status of within-person state variability in neuroticism and conscientiousness as individual differences constructs by exploring their (a) temporal stability, (b) cross-context consistency, (c) empirical links to selected antecedents, and (d) empirical links to longer term trait variability. Employing a sample of professionals ( N = 346) from Australian organisations, personality state data together with situation appraisals were collected using experience sampling methodology in field and repeatedly in lab-like settings. Data on personality traits, cognitive ability, and motivational mindsets were collected at baseline and after two years. Contingent (situation contingencies) and non-contingent (relative SD) state variability indices were relatively stable over time and across contexts. Only a small number of predictive effects of state variability were observed, and these differed across contexts. Cognitive ability appeared to be associated with state variability under lab-like conditions. There was limited evidence of links between short-term state and long-term trait variability, except for a small effect for neuroticism. Some evidence of positive manifold was found for non-contingent variability. Systematic efforts are required to further elucidate the complex pattern of results regarding the antecedents, correlates and outcomes of individual differences in state variability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Shannon P. Devlin ◽  
Jennifer K. Byham ◽  
Sara Lu Riggs

Changes in task demands can have delayed adverse impacts on performance. This phenomenon, known as the workload history effect, is especially of concern in dynamic work domains where operators manage fluctuating task demands. The existing workload history literature does not depict a consistent picture regarding how these effects manifest, prompting research to consider measures that are informative on the operator's process. One promising measure is visual attention patterns, due to its informativeness on various cognitive processes. To explore its ability to explain workload history effects, participants completed a task in an unmanned aerial vehicle command and control testbed where workload transitioned gradually and suddenly. The participants’ performance and visual attention patterns were studied over time to identify workload history effects. The eye-tracking analysis consisted of using a recently developed eye-tracking metric called coefficient K , as it indicates whether visual attention is more focal or ambient. The performance results found workload history effects, but it depended on the workload level, time elapsed, and performance measure. The eye-tracking analysis suggested performance suffered when focal attention was deployed during low workload, which was an unexpected finding. When synthesizing these results, they suggest unexpected visual attention patterns can impact performance immediately over time. Further research is needed; however, this work shows the value of including a real-time visual attention measure, such as coefficient K , as a means to understand how the operator manages varying task demands in complex work environments.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 884-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kathryn Bleckley ◽  
Francis T. Durso ◽  
Jerry M. Crutchfield ◽  
Randall W. Engle ◽  
Maya M. Khanna

2012 ◽  
Vol 64 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 93-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. Rottman ◽  
Frank C. Keil

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariella Miraglia ◽  
Guido Alessandri ◽  
Laura Borgogni

Purpose – Previous literature has recognized the variability of job performance, calling attention to the inter-individual differences in performance change. Building on Murphy’s (1989) theoretical model of performance, the purpose of this paper is to verify the existence of two distinct classes of performance, reflecting stable and increasing trends, and to investigate which personal conditions prompt the inclusion of individuals in one class rather than the other. Design/methodology/approach – Overall job performance was obtained from supervisory ratings for four consecutive years for 410 professionals of a large Italian company going through significant reorganization. Objective data were merged with employees’ organizational tenure and self-efficacy. Growth Mixture Modeling was used. Findings – Two main groups were identified: the first one started at higher levels of performance and showed a stable trajectory over time (stable class); the second group started at lower levels and reported an increasing trajectory (increasing class). Employees’ with stronger efficacy beliefs and lower tenure were more likely to belong to the stable class. Originality/value – Through a powerful longitudinal database, the nature, the structure and the inter-individual differences in job performance over time are clarified. The study extends Murphy’s (1989) model, showing how transition stages in job performance may occur also as a result of organizational transformation. Moreover, it demonstrates the essential role of self-efficacy in maintaining high performance levels over time.


2018 ◽  
pp. 253-254
Author(s):  
Antonia S. Conti ◽  
Moritz Späth ◽  
Klaus Bengler

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1814) ◽  
pp. 20151512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Franz ◽  
Emily McLean ◽  
Jenny Tung ◽  
Jeanne Altmann ◽  
Susan C. Alberts

Linear dominance hierarchies, which are common in social animals, can profoundly influence access to limited resources, reproductive opportunities and health. In spite of their importance, the mechanisms that govern the dynamics of such hierarchies remain unclear. Two hypotheses explain how linear hierarchies might emerge and change over time. The ‘prior attributes hypothesis’ posits that individual differences in fighting ability directly determine dominance ranks. By contrast, the ‘social dynamics hypothesis’ posits that dominance ranks emerge from social self-organization dynamics such as winner and loser effects. While the prior attributes hypothesis is well supported in the literature, current support for the social dynamics hypothesis is limited to experimental studies that artificially eliminate or minimize individual differences in fighting abilities. Here, we present the first evidence supporting the social dynamics hypothesis in a wild population. Specifically, we test for winner and loser effects on male hierarchy dynamics in wild baboons, using a novel statistical approach based on the Elo rating method for cardinal rank assignment, which enables the detection of winner and loser effects in uncontrolled group settings. Our results demonstrate (i) the presence of winner and loser effects, and (ii) that individual susceptibility to such effects may have a genetic basis. Taken together, our results show that both social self-organization dynamics and prior attributes can combine to influence hierarchy dynamics even when agonistic interactions are strongly influenced by differences in individual attributes. We hypothesize that, despite variation in individual attributes, winner and loser effects exist (i) because these effects could be particularly beneficial when fighting abilities in other group members change over time, and (ii) because the coevolution of prior attributes and winner and loser effects maintains a balance of both effects.


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