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Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
The time course of attentive tracking.
Hinze Hogendoorn1, Thomas A Carlson, Frans A J Verstraten
1Helmholtz Institute, Experimental Psychology Division, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. j.h.a.hogendoorn@uu.nl
Journal of Vision
|January 26, 2008
Summary
Attentive tracking allows rapid shifts between items when guided by external cues. However, this synchronization means shifting attention costs more as tracking speed increases, with shifts aligning to cue onsets.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual attention
Background:
- Understanding the temporal dynamics of attention is crucial for explaining cognitive processes.
- Attentive tracking involves maintaining focus on moving objects, requiring dynamic attentional control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal characteristics of attentive tracking.
- To measure attentional dwell time and shift time during attentive tracking.
- To explore the relationship between external cues and attentional shifting efficiency.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted to measure attentional dwell time and shift time.
- Participants engaged in attentive tracking tasks.
- Analysis focused on the synchronization of attentional shifts with external cues.
Main Results:
- External cues enable remarkably rapid shifts of attention between tracked items.
- The time cost of shifting attention is inversely proportional to the tracking rate when synchronized to cues.
- Attentional shifts during tracking are predominantly synchronized with cue onsets, not offsets.
Conclusions:
- Attention can shift rapidly when externally cued, but this synchronization introduces a speed-accuracy trade-off.
- The findings support a model of attention as a smoothly moving spotlight synchronized to external events.
