The Change Processes in Selective Attention during Adulthood. Inhibition or Processing Speed?

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Introzzi ◽  
Eliana Zamora ◽  
Yesica Aydmune ◽  
María Marta Richard’s ◽  
Ana Comesaña ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Speed Task

Abstract Selective attention is involved in multiple daily activities. Several authors state that it experiences a decline after 20 years, although there is no agreement regarding the cognitive processes that explain it. Two theories dominate the discussion: The theory of inhibitory inefficiency and the theory of processing speed. At the same time, it has been suggested that there could be complementary relations between both; however, it is not clear what the contribution of inhibition and processing speed is on the changes of selective attention. Therefore, the present study proposes to analyze this contribution, in adults between 20 and 80 years old. To assess selective attention and inhibitory control, two indices of a visual search task were obtained in which participants must identify a target stimulus among a set of distracting stimuli. To evaluate the processing speed, a response speed task was used. The main results indicate that, from the age of 60, a gradual decrease in selective attention begins and that this decline can be largely explained by a decrease in processing speed and inhibitory control. We discuss about the literature on the development of selective attention, the contribution of processing speed, and the inhibitory inefficiency hypothesis.

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

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1316-1322 ◽  
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.

The Impact of Age on Visual Search Performance

1993 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-176 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Exploring reward-related attention selectivity deficits in Parkinson’s disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. D. Pilgrim ◽  
Zhen-Yi Andy Ou ◽  
Madeleine Sharp
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Adaptive Modulation ◽  
Attention Capture ◽  
Reward Value ◽  
Automatic Attention ◽  
Reward Information

AbstractAn important aspect of managing a limited cognitive resource like attention is to use the reward value of stimuli to prioritize the allocation of attention to higher-value over lower-value stimuli. Recent evidence suggests this depends on dopaminergic signaling of reward. In Parkinson’s disease, both reward sensitivity and attention are impaired, but whether these deficits are directly related to one another is unknown. We tested whether Parkinson’s patients use reward information when automatically allocating their attention and whether this is modulated by dopamine replacement. We compared patients, tested both ON and OFF dopamine replacement medication, to older controls using a standard attention capture task. First, participants learned the different reward values of stimuli. Then, these reward-associated stimuli were used as distractors in a visual search task. We found that patients were generally distracted by the presence of the distractors but that the degree of distraction caused by the high-value and low-value distractors was similar. Furthermore, we found no evidence to support the possibility that dopamine replacement modulates the effect of reward on automatic attention allocation. Our results suggest a possible inability in Parkinson’s patients to use the reward value of stimuli when automatically allocating their attention, and raise the possibility that reward-driven allocation of resources may affect the adaptive modulation of other cognitive processes.

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

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
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.

Cuing Interacts with Perceptual Load in Visual Search

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-287 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals "Selective attention and error proneness while driving: research using a conjunctive visual search task

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Andrea Montes, S.A. ◽  
Isabel María Introzzi, I.M. ◽  
Rubén Daniel Ledesma, R.D. ◽  
Soledad Susana López, S.S.
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task

Effect of Target Separation on Selective Attention

1975 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-760
Author(s):  
R. T. Solman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Target Condition ◽  
Single Target ◽  
Selective Processing

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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