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Visual attention and action: How cueing, direct mapping, and social interactions drive orienting
Mark A Atkinson1, Andrew A Simpson2, Geoff G Cole2
1School of Psychology, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK. m.m.atkinson@exeter.ac.uk.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|August 16, 2017
Summary
Observing human actions strongly guides visual attention, similar to eye gaze. New research suggests actions may also direct attention via unique neural pathways, enhancing social attention studies.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Limited research exists on how observing manual actions influences visual attention.
- Action perception and social attention are key areas of interest in recent decades.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review studies on attention orienting following observation of goal-directed actions.
- To propose that action is a potent cue for visual attention.
- To explore unique mechanisms by which action, distinct from gaze, directs attention.
Main Methods:
- Literature review synthesizing studies measuring attention orienting after observing goal-directed actions.
- Analysis of proposed neural mechanisms like direct neural mapping and corepresentation.
Main Results:
- Observation of goal-directed actions strongly orients visual attention, akin to eye gaze.
- Action may employ distinct neural mechanisms (direct mapping, corepresentation) to guide attention, separate from gaze direction.
Conclusions:
- Action serves as a powerful orienting cue for the visual system.
- Gaze-independent mechanisms of attention to action warrant further investigation.
- Joint action paradigms can illuminate the role of higher-level goals and social factors in attention to action.
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