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Attention to arrows: pointing to a new direction
Jelena Ristic1, Alan Kingstone
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. jelena.ristic@telus.net
Predictive arrows create larger attention shifts than previously thought by combining reflexive and volitional orienting. This finding impacts studies on attention, cognition, and social development.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychophysics
Background:
- Traditionally, spatially predictive cues were considered necessary for attention shifts.
- Recent research suggests nonpredictive directional cues can also trigger reflexive attention shifts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the implications of reflexive attention shifts for studies using predictive cues.
- To determine how predictive arrows interact with reflexive and volitional attention.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of attention effects from predictive arrows, nonpredictive arrows, and predictive numbers.
- Analysis of cueing paradigms in attention research.
Main Results:
- Predictive arrows produced significantly larger attention effects than the sum of reflexive and volitional orienting.
- The substantial effect of predictive arrows appears to stem from an interaction between reflexive and volitional attention.
Conclusions:
- The predictive arrow cueing paradigm's effects are a result of combined reflexive and volitional orienting.
- These findings offer new insights into basic attention, cognition, and social development research.
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