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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Loneliness Assuaged: Eye-Tracking an Audience Watching Barrage Videos

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Published on: May 29, 2020

How to keep attention from straying: get engaged!

Charles L Folk¹, Edward F Ester, Kristof Troemel

¹Department of Psychology, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA. charles.folk@villanova.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|January 16, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Attentional engagement, not just focused attention, prevents involuntary capture by irrelevant stimuli. Engaging attention locks out distractions, improving focus in visual tasks.

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Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive psychology
Visual attention research

Background:

Previous studies suggested focused attention prevents attentional capture by salient, irrelevant stimuli.
Recent work indicates focused attention is necessary but not sufficient to prevent capture.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether attentional engagement or focusing is the key mechanism preventing attentional capture.
To provide evidence for attentional engagement as the primary factor in preventing capture.

Main Methods:

Observers performed a rapid serial visual presentation task identifying a color-defined target letter.
Peripheral distractors sharing the target's color were presented.
A central distractor preceding the peripheral distractor was used to engage attention.

Main Results:

Peripheral distractors sharing the target color initially caused attentional capture.
This capture effect was eliminated when attention was engaged by a preceding central distractor.
Attentional engagement effectively prevented capture by irrelevant stimuli.

Conclusions:

Attentional engagement, rather than attentional focusing, is the critical factor preventing capture by salient, irrelevant stimuli.
Engaging attention locks out capture, demonstrating its role in maintaining focus.