1. Next Tuesday • Read article by Anne Treisman

2. Orienting Attention

3. Control of Attention • Major Distinctions: Voluntary Reflexive

4. Control of Attention • Major Distinctions: Voluntary Reflexive Covert Overt

5. Voluntary Orienting • Attention can be oriented covertly • a commonly used metaphor is “the spotlight of attention”

6. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: Subject presses a button as soon as x appears

7. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm:

8. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm:

9. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm:

10. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: X

11. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm:

12. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm: That was a validly cued trial because the x appeared in the box that flashed

13. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm:

14. Orienting Attention • Posner Cue - Target Paradigm:

15. Voluntary Orienting • What is another way to make this paradigm a voluntary orienting paradigm? Symbolic Cue Symbolic cues may orient attention towards another location. Stimulus cues orient attention to the stimulated location.

16. Reflexive Orienting • Attention can be automatically “summoned” to a location at which an important event has occurred:

17. Reflexive Orienting • Attention can be automatically “summoned” to a location at which an important event has occurred: • Loud noise • Motion • New Object • We call this attentional capture Transients

18. Reflexive Orienting • The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting … in what way?

19. Reflexive Orienting • The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting • How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it asses only reflexive orienting?

20. Reflexive Orienting • The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting • How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it asses only reflexive orienting? • Make validity 50% (non-informative cue)

21. Reflexive Orienting • The Posner cueing paradigm (with blinking boxes) confounds reflexive and voluntary orienting • How could we change the Posner cueing paradigm to make it asses only reflexive orienting? • Make validity 50% (non-informative cue) • Viewers are still faster and more accurate!

22. Reflexive Orienting • Can symbolic cues be reflexive? Almost never but …

23. Reflexive Orienting • Can symbolic cues be reflexive? Reflexive orienting to direction of eye gaze

24. Reflexive Orienting • Potential cues for Reflexive Orienting • Loud noise • Motion • New Object • New Objects are powerful attention grabbers! Transients

25. New Objects Capture Attention IS THERE AN “H”? Initial scene viewed for several hundred ms Yantis & Jonides (1990): New-Object Paradigm

26. New Objects Capture Attention IS THERE AN “H”? New scene: search for target letter H may be revealed from an 8 or may appear as a new object Yantis & Jonides (1990): New-Object Paradigm

27. Reflexive Orienting • Steven Yantis and colleagues • Result:

28. Reflexive Orienting • Steven Yantis and colleagues • Result: Targets are found faster when they are “new objects” than when they are revealed from “old” objects

29. Reflexive Orienting • Steven Yantis and colleagues • Interpretation: The visual system prioritizes in dealing with visual objects - relatively recent objects are “flagged” while older objects are disregarded

30. Attention and Consciousness • The attention orienting mechanism can be confused leading to something called “change blindness”

31. Attention and Consciousness