Attention

Saturday, October 01st,   2011 [17:20 - 19:20]

PS_2.006 - Trial-by-trial action control in infancy: evidence from the Simon effect

Iani, C. , Stella, G. & Rubichi, S.

University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

In the typical Simon task, responses to a non-spatial stimulus feature are faster and more accurate when stimulus and response spatially correspond (corresponding trials) than when they do not correspond (noncorresponding trials). Several studies have shown that the advantage for corresponding trials, known as the Simon effect, is null or inverted after a noncorresponding trial. These trial-by-trial modulations suggest the existence of executive control mechanisms that adapt our behavior to current goals protecting our performance from cognitive conflict. The aim of the present study was to assess whether these mechanisms, well consolidated in adults, are present in younger children. To this end we tested 17 first-grade and 17 second-grade children on a Simon task in which correspondence sequence was manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis. Both groups showed a regular Simon effect when the preceding trial was corresponding and a reduction of the effect when the preceding trial was noncorresponding. Crucially, this reduction was stronger for second-grade children who showed trial-to-trials modulations comparable to those observed in adults. These results provide insights into the development of cognitive control mechanisms.

PS_2.007 - Eye movement evidence for a link between insufficiency of convergence and ADHD

Aznar-Casanova, J. , Amador, J. A. , Moreno, M. & Sole, M.

Universitat de Barcelona

As a result of literacy, prolonged visual efforts cause an excess of convergence during childhood. Several studies have found a high relationship between some binocular anomalies and attention and hyperactivity disorders. To date, it is not sure if convergence insufficiency (IC) is a result of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). If the same problem that causes ADHD is also the cause of the failure of convergence. Alternatively, medication taken for ADHD children may be the cause of the failure of convergence. In order to verify a relationship between attention deficit and binocular vision we tested 12 children in an experiment using the paradigm of binocular and monocular rivalry and recorded vergence eye movements. Analysis of the variability of the angle of convergence to images that promote binocular and monocular rivalry revealed differences between normal children and children with ADHD. Thus, our data provide support to the link between ADHD and IC, i.e. visual focus and mental focus are narrowly linked.

PS_2.008 - A better understanding of inhibitory process in simple and dual tasks

Gálvez García, G. ^{1, 2, 3} , Zwick, G. ¹ , Plaza, B. ¹ & Michael, G. A. ¹

1 Laboratory of Cognitive Mechanisms. University of Lyon 2.
2 French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFSTTAR), Lyon, France
3 SolEI company (Integral Ergonomics Solutions)

The cognitive inhibition has been deeply studied in the last decades. Nevertheless this term has been widely used without a good understanding of the process per se. The aim of this study was to study further the cognitive inhibition to ascertain if there is more than one inhibitory mechanism for different motor actions with different requirements. For this purpose we developed two experiments where the participants responded by reaching two circles previously signaled by arrows with two motor actions; normal reaching vs inverted reaching (supination of the palm) in experiment 1, and normal reaching or avoid to response (release action) in experiment 2. This design allowed the comparison of Simon or Congruence effect respect to different motor requirements. Finally, the participants performed these motor actions in three different conditions of dual task; detect one or three numbers in an auditory task or none. The results confirmed that attentional resources are limited and the inhibition was worst (bigger Simon or Congruence effect) in experiment 2 (normal reaching vs release) but not in experiment 1 (normal reaching vs inverted reaching). These results suggest a different inhibition mechanism for different motor actions when they have a big difference in motor requirements.

PS_2.009 - Separating intertrial and intratrial interference during simultaneously executed saccades and manual responses

Pieczykolan, A. & Huestegge, L.

RWTH Aachen University. Aachen, Germany

Multitasking usually causes performance deficits manifesting as increased response times and/or error rates. This has also been demonstrated for the simultaneous execution of saccades and manual responses. Studies so far concentrated on interference mechanisms caused by intratrial effects, whereas the role of interference between sequential trials in dual-task conditions remained largely unclear. In the present study subjects responded to a single auditory stimulus either with a saccade, a manual response or with both. The saccade was always spatially compatible to the stimulus while the manual response was not. In order to dissociate intertrial interference from intratrial interference we compared dual-task costs of pure blocks containing only stimuli on the same side (e.g. left) with mixed blocks containing stimuli on both sides (i.e. either left or right). Implications of the comparison across pure and mixed blocks for crossmodal selection mechanisms during multitasking will be discussed.

PS_2.010 - On exceptions from the PRP effect: Comparing intentional and reflective eye blinks

Janczyk, M. & Kunde, W.

Department of Psychology III, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

The psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm is a well established tool to investigate the micro structure of dual-task performance within mental chronometry. Since its renaissance in the early 1990ies a vast amount of tasks has been reported to produce a PRP effect - ever since taken as an indicator for capacity limitations of the involved tasks. In fact, exceptions from the PRP effect have rarely (if ever) been reported and are controversial (extensive practice, ideomotor-compatible tasks, …), questioning the usefulness of this paradigm to ascribe capacity limitations to a given task. At first glance, reflexes may constitute a potential class of fully automated behavior, thus not susceptible to the PRP effect. However, the intensity and latency of the eye blink component of the startle reflex can also be modulated by, for example, pre-pulses or emotional background content. In the first experiment, we show that a standard PRP effect can be obtained when participants are to blink intentionally as a response to an imperative stimulus. In a second experiment, we elicited the very same response with an air puff. Here, no signs of a PRP effect were obtained, reinforcing the claim that exceptions from the PRP effect indeed exist.

PS_2.011 - Talking while looking: Interference between saccades and vocal responses

Huestegge, L. & Koch, I.

RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

The simultaneous execution of two responses is known to cause interference. This was also demonstrated for saccades and manual responses, but potential interference between saccades and vocal responses remained an open issue yet. In Experiment 1 of the present study, participants responded to lateralized auditory stimuli by saying “left”/“right” (vocal task), by executing a left/right saccade (saccade task), or both. Unlike saccades combined with manual responses, here responses do not involve shared physical characteristics (e.g., left/right movements), but only shared conceptual attributes (i.e., both involve the cognitive concepts of left/right). Results indicated that both vocal responses and saccades exhibited dual-response costs, indicating that shared physical characteristics of both responses are not necessary to produce dual-response costs. In Experiment 2, we additionally introduced a condition without shared conceptual attributes across responses (i.e., vocal responses “yellow” vs. “green”). This condition led to increased dual-response costs, indicating that participants in Experiment 1 benefit from shared abstract response characteristics via response-code priming.

PS_2.012 - Temperamental basis of the effectiveness of selective and divided attention

Stolarski, M. , Ledzińska, M. & Zdral, B.

University of Warsaw, Faculty of Psychology

The role of temperamental variables in the dynamics and effectiveness of attention processes has rarely been investigated so far and, within the borderline area between personality and intelligence, remains an unresolved issue. The paper reports a series of studies illustrating the role of temperamental traits distinguished in the Regulative Theory of Temperament (Strelau, 2008). In Study 1 we investigated the temperamental correlates of the intensity of intrusive thoughts. The aim of Study 2 was to illustrate the temperamental basis of the strength of experience of data overload (also labeled infostress), which earlier proved to be related to selective attention. Finally, in study 3 we experimentally investigated the role of temperament in selective and divided attention, measured with computer attention task DIVA (Nęcka, 1994). The obtained data provide evidence for the role of temperamental traits, particularly Emotional Reactivity and Perseveration, in attention processes and illustrate two of the possible mechanisms of this relationship: intrusive thoughts and infostress experience.

PS_2.013 - The relationship between visual attention and visual short term memory for objects

Pilling, M. & Gellatly, A.

Oxford Brookes University

We explore the relationship between attention and object representation in visual short-term memory (VSTM). We specifically look at the conditions in which attention leads to an updating of the VSTM store. Displays consist of various coloured shapes on a neutral background. Attention is drawn towards display objects in cue sequences in which objects briefly increase in luminance or are surrounded by an outline square. One item (either previously cued or uncued) is then covered and participants required to report its colour. Previous research shows that observers show above-chance accuracy only in reporting about the most recently cued objects in the sequence, suggesting VSTM representations of earlier attended objects have been overwritten. We vary the task-relevance of the intervening cued items in the sequence. Similar reporting accuracy is found for the covered object even when the intervening items in the cued sequence are task-irrelevant. Reporting accuracy remains unimproved even when empty locations are cued in the intervening sequence. The data overall suggests that we have limited, if any, control over the consolidation of attended information into VSTM. Cueing any spatial location, filled or unfilled, task-relevant or otherwise, seems to automatically update VSTM and overwrite previously attended information held in this store.

PS_2.014 - Gaze and head orientation reduce attentional blink (AB) for subsequent visual events

Comparetti, C. M. ^{1, 2} , Pichon, S. . ² , Ricciardelli, P. ¹ & Vuilleumier, P. ²

1 Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca - Italy
2 Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Medical School, University of Geneva - Switzerland

Others’ gaze direction and body position are powerful social cues indicating the presence of relevant information in the environment. We investigated how the processing of gaze direction (averted, directed) and head position (deviated, frontal) diminishes AB for subsequent visual events. AB refers to the reduced detection of a stimulus-T2 during a brief time-window (~250ms) following the detection of another first target stimulus-T1. Subjects had to report the gender of a face(T1) with different gaze and head orientation, and then categorize an indoor or outdoor scene(T2). Behavioral data showed that, outside the AB refractory-period, faces with congruent gaze and head position facilitated the identification of T2_scenes. During the AB-period, recognition for T2_scenes was diminished, except after T1_faces with direct gaze and frontal head. Comparison of trials where T1_faces or T2_scenes were correctly detected showed increased activity in FFA and PPA respectively. Activity in bilateral IPS decreased during AB in parallel to the decrease in T2 performance. Outside AB-period the interaction between head and gaze showed activity within ACC; face network activity increased for gaze contact but drastically diminished during AB. These results show that body and gaze position modulate the AB effect and influence the observer's attention for subsequent visual stimuli.