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Individual differences in attention allocation during a two-dimensional inhibitory control task
Emily R Weichart1, Per B Sederberg2
1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|October 21, 2020
Summary
Individual visual attention varies, with most people using a horizontally biased elliptical spotlight. However, some individuals exhibit circular or vertically biased attention, highlighting differences in attentional processing.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Computational modeling
Background:
- Visual attention is often conceptualized as a spotlight or zoom lens, focusing on relevant stimuli.
- Evidence suggests a horizontally biased elliptical shape for spatially contiguous stimuli.
- Group analyses may mask individual differences in attentional spotlight shape.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate individual differences in the shape of the attentional spotlight.
- Utilize a two-dimensional flanker task and computational modeling.
- Examine variability in attentional spotlight parameters across subjects.
Main Methods:
- Employed a two-dimensional flanker task paradigm.
- Developed nested computational models of attention and decision-making.
- Operationalized the attentional spotlight as a bivariate normal distribution density function.
Main Results:
- A general preference for an elliptical spotlight over a circular one was observed within subjects.
- Significant between-subject variability in spotlight shapes was identified.
- Most subjects' data fit a horizontally biased elliptical spotlight, but variations existed.
Conclusions:
- Attentional spotlight shapes are not uniform across individuals.
- Individual differences in attentional bias (horizontal, vertical, or circular) are present.
- Computational models can reveal nuanced variations in visual attention mechanisms.
