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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
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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.

Keywords:
Attention: theoretical and computational modelsCognitive and attentional control

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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.