The Control of Visual Attention

Shaun P Vecera; Joshua D Cosman; Daniel B Vatterott; Zachary J.J Roper

doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-800090-8.00008-1

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Book chapter

The Control of Visual Attention

Shaun P Vecera, Joshua D Cosman, Daniel B Vatterott and Zachary J.J Roper

Psychology of Learning and Motivation, pp.303-347

Elsevier Science & Technology

2014

DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-800090-8.00008-1

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Abstract

Visual attention is deployed through visual scenes to find behaviorally relevant targets. This attentional deployment—or attentional control—can be based on either stimulus factors, such as the salience of an object or region, or goal relevance, such as the match between an object and the target being searched for. Decades of research have measured attentional control by examining attentional interruption by a completely irrelevant distracting object, which may or may not capture attention. Based on the results of attentional capture tasks, the literature has distilled two alternative views of attentional control and capture: one focused on stimulus-driven factors and the other based on goal-driven factors. In the current paper, we propose an alternative in which stimulus-driven control and goal-driven control are not mutually exclusive but instead related through task dynamics, specifically experience. Attentional control is initially stimulus-driven. However, as participants gain experience with all aspects of a task, attentional control rapidly becomes increasingly goal-driven. We present four experiments that examine this experience-dependent attentional tuning. We show that to resist capture and be highly selective based on target properties, attention must be configured to aspects of a task through experience.

Context

Experience

Visual short-term memory

Attentional control

Visual memory

Attentional capture

Attention

Details

Title: Subtitle: The Control of Visual Attention
Creators: Shaun P Vecera - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Joshua D Cosman - Department of Psychology and Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Daniel B Vatterott - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Zachary J.J Roper - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Resource Type: Book chapter
Publication Details: Psychology of Learning and Motivation, pp.303-347
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-800090-8.00008-1
eISSN: 1557-802X
ISSN: 0079-7421
Publisher: Elsevier Science & Technology
Language: English
Date published: 2014
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002413602771

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