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Automated symbolic orienting is not modulated by explicit temporal attention
Dana A Hayward1, Jelena Ristic2
1Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Ave West, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada.
Acta Psychologica
|October 16, 2016
Summary
Automated Symbolic Orienting (ASO) is not affected by voluntary temporal attention, but still requires implicit temporal task structure. This finding clarifies the independent nature of spatial and temporal attention.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Attention Studies
Background:
- Spatial attention is influenced by stimulus selection history.
- Automated Symbolic Orienting (ASO) involves learned spatial stimulus-target links.
- ASO's dependence on temporal expectancies suggests a potential link to voluntary temporal attention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether voluntary temporal attention modulates Automated Symbolic Orienting (ASO).
- To determine if ASO and voluntary temporal attention interact.
- To clarify the role of temporal information processing in ASO.
Main Methods:
- Eliciting ASO and voluntary temporal attention independently.
- Combining ASO and voluntary temporal attention tasks.
- Analyzing the interaction between these two attentional processes.
Main Results:
- ASO and voluntary temporal attention operated typically and independently across all conditions.
- No significant interaction was observed between ASO and voluntary temporal attention.
- Typical ASO was not modulated by explicit temporal information use.
Conclusions:
- Automated Symbolic Orienting is not influenced by the explicit use of temporal information.
- ASO appears to rely on implicit temporal structures within a task, independent of voluntary temporal attention.
- Spatial and temporal attention mechanisms can operate distinctly.
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