Oculomotor capture by search-irrelevant features in visual working memory: on the crucial role of target–distractor similarity

Foerster RM, Schneider WX. Oculomotor capture by search-irrelevant features in visual working memory: on the crucial role of target–distractor similarity. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. 2020;82:2379–2392.When searching for varying targets in the environment, a target template has to be maintained in visual working memory (VWM). Recently, we showed that search-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention in an object-based manner, so that objects sharing such features with a VWM template capture the eyes involuntarily. Here, we investigated whether target–distractor similarity modulates capture strength. Participants saccaded to a target accompanied by a distractor. A single feature (e.g., shape) defined the target in each trial indicated by a cue, and the cue also varied in one irrelevant feature (e.g., color). The distractor matched the cue’s irrelevant feature in half of the trials. Nine experiments showed that target–distractor similarity consistently influenced the degree of oculomotor capture. High target–distractor dissimilarity in the search-relevant feature reduced capture by the irrelevant feature (Experiments 1, 3, 6, 7). However, capture was reduced by high target–distractor similarity in the search-irrelevant feature (Experiments 1, 4, 5, 8). Strong oculomotor capture was observed if target–distractor similarity was reasonably low in the relevant and high in the irrelevant feature, irrespective of whether color or shape were relevant (Experiments 2 and 5). These findings argue for involuntary and object-based, top-down control by VWM templates, whereas its manifestation in oculomotor capture depends crucially on target–distractor similarity in relevant and irrelevant feature dimensions of the search object

Task-irrelevant expectation violations in sequential manual actions: Evidence for a “check-after-surprise” mode of visual attention and eye-hand decoupling

Foerster RM. Task-irrelevant expectation violations in sequential manual actions: Evidence for a “check-after-surprise” mode of visual attention and eye-hand decoupling. Frontiers in Psychology. 2016;7: 1845.When performing sequential manual actions (e.g., cooking), visual information is prioritized according to the task determining where and when to attend, look, and act. In well-practiced sequential actions, long-term memory (LTM)-based expectations specify which action targets might be found where and when. We have previously demonstrated (Foerster and Schneider, 2015b) that violations of such expectations that are task-relevant (e.g., target location change) cause a regression from a memory-based mode of attentional selection to visual search. How might task-irrelevant expectation violations in such well-practiced sequential manual actions modify attentional selection? This question was investigated by a computerized version of the number-connection test. Participants clicked on nine spatially-distributed numbered target circles in ascending order while eye movements were recorded as proxy for covert attention. Target’s visual features and locations stayed constant for 65 prechange-trials, allowing practicing the manual action sequence. Consecutively, a task-irrelevant expectation violation occurred and stayed for 20 change-trials. Specifically, action target number 4 appeared in a different font. In 15 reversion-trials, number 4 returned to the original font. During the first task-irrelevant change trial, manual clicking was slower and eye scanpaths were larger and contained more fixations. The additional fixations were mainly checking fixations on the changed target while acting on later targets. Whereas the eyes repeatedly revisited the task-irrelevant change, cursor-paths remained completely unaffected. Effects lasted for 2-3 change trials and did not reappear during reversion. In conclusion, an unexpected task-irrelevant change on a task-defining feature of a well-practiced manual sequence leads to eye-hand decoupling and a “check-after-surprise” mode of attentional selection

“Looking-at-nothing” during sequential sensorimotor actions. Long-term memory-based eye scanning of remembered target locations

Foerster RM. “Looking-at-nothing” during sequential sensorimotor actions. Long-term memory-based eye scanning of remembered target locations. Vision Research. 2018;144:29-37.Before acting humans saccade to a target object to extract relevant visual information. Even when acting on remembered objects, locations previously occupied by relevant objects are fixated during imagery and memory tasks – a phenomenon called “looking-at-nothing”. While looking-at-nothing was robustly found in tasks en- couraging declarative memory built-up, results are mixed in the case of procedural sensorimotor tasks. Eye- guidance to manual targets in complete darkness was observed in a task practiced for days beforehand, while investigations using only a single session did not find fixations to remembered action targets. Here, it is asked whether looking-at-nothing can be found in a single sensorimotor session and thus independent from sleep consolidation, and how it progresses when visual information is repeatedly unavailable. Eye movements were investigated in a computerized version of the trail making test. Participants clicked on numbered circles in ascending sequence. Fifty trials were performed with the same spatial arrangement of 9 visual targets to enable long-term memory consolidation. During 50 consecutive trials, participants had to click the remembered target sequence on an empty screen. Participants scanned the visual targets and also the empty target locations se- quentially with their eyes, however, the latter less precise than the former. Over the course of the memory trials, manual and oculomotor sequential target scanning became more similar to the visual trials. Results argue for robust looking-at-nothing during procedural sensorimotor tasks provided that long-term memory information is sufficie

Involuntary top-down control by search-irrelevant features: Visual working memory biases attention in an object-based manner

Foerster RM, Schneider WX. Involuntary top-down control by search-irrelevant features: Visual working memory biases attention in an object-based manner. Cognition. 2018;172:37-45.Many everyday tasks involve successive visual-search episodes with changing targets. Converging evidence suggests that these targets are retained in visual working memory (VWM) and bias attention from there. It is unknown whether all or only search-relevant features of a VWM template bias attention during search. Bias signals might be configured exclusively to task-relevant features so that only search-relevant features bias at- tention. Alternatively, VWM might maintain objects in the form of bound features. Then, all template features will bias attention in an object-based manner, so that biasing effects are ranked by feature relevance. Here, we investigated whether search-irrelevant VWM template features bias attention. Participants had to saccade to a target opposite a distractor. A colored cue depicted the target prior to each search trial. The target was pre- defined only by its identity, while its color was irrelevant. When target and cue matched not only in identity (search-relevant) but also in color (search-irrelevant), saccades went more often and faster directly to the target than without any color match (Experiment 1). When introducing a cue-distractor color match (Experiment 2), direct target saccades were most likely when target and cue matched in the search-irrelevant color and least likely in case of a cue-distractor color match. When cue and target were never colored the same (Experiment 3), cue-colored distractors still captured the eyes more often than different-colored distractors despite color being search-irrelevant. As participants were informed about the misleading color, the result argues against a strate- gical and voluntary usage of color. Instead, search-irrelevant features biased attention obligatorily arguing for involuntary top-down control by object-based VWM templates

Task-irrelevant features in visual working memory influence covert attention: Evidence from a partial report task

Foerster RM, Schneider WX. Task-irrelevant features in visual working memory influence covert attention: Evidence from a partial report task. Vision. 2019;3(3): 42. Selecting a target based on a representation in visual working memory (VWM) affords biasing covert attention towards objects with memory-matching features. Recently, we showed that even task-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention. Specifically, when participants had to saccade to a cued shape, distractors sharing the cue’s search-irrelevant color captured the eyes. While a saccade always aims at one target location, multiple locations can be attended covertly. Here, we investigated whether covert attention is captured similarly as the eyes. In our partial report task, each trial started with a shape-defined search cue, followed by a fixation cross. Next, two colored shapes, each including a letter, appeared left and right from fixation, followed by masks. The letter inside that shape matching the preceding cue had to be reported. In Experiment 1, either target, distractor, both, or no object matched the cue’s irrelevant color. Target-letter reports were most frequent in target-match trials and least frequent in distractor-match trials. Irrelevant cue and target color never matched in Experiment 2. Still, participants reported the distractor more often to the target’s disadvantage, when cue and distractor color matched. Thus, irrelevant features of a VWM template can influence covert attention in an involuntarily object-based manner when searching for trial-wise varying targets.</jats:p

Expectation-violations in sensorimotor sequences: shifting from LTM-based attentional selection to visual search

Foerster RM, Schneider WX. Expectation-violations in sensorimotor sequences: shifting from LTM-based attentional selection to visual search. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2015;1339(1):45-59

Anticipatory eye movements in sensorimotor actions: On the role of guiding fixations during learning

Foerster RM, Schneider WX. Anticipatory eye movements in sensorimotor actions: On the role of guiding fixations during learning. Cognitive Processing. 2015;16(Suppl. 1):227-231.During object-based sensorimotor tasks, humans look at target locations for subsequent hand actions. These anticipatory eye movements or guiding fixations seem to be necessary for a successful perfor- mance. By practicing such a sensorimotor task, humans become faster and perform fewer guiding fixations (Foer- ster and Schneider, In Prep; Foerster et al. in J Vis 11(7):9:1–16, 2011). We aimed at clarifying whether this decrease in guiding fixations is the cause or effect of faster task completion time. Participants may learn to use less visual input (fewer fixations) allowing shorter completion times. Alternatively, participants may speed up their hand movements (e.g., more efficient motor control) leaving less time for visual intake. The latter would imply that the number of fixations is directly connected to task speed. We investigated the relationship between the number of fixa- tions and task speed in a computerized version of the number connection task (Foerster and Schneider in Ann N Y Acad Sci 2015. doi:10.1111/nyas.12729). Eye move- ments were recorded while participants clicked in ascend- ing order on nine numbered circles. In 90 learning trials, they clicked the sequence with a constant spatial configu- ration as fast as possible. In the subsequent experimental phase, they should perform 30 trials again under high- speed instruction and 30 trials under slow-speed instruc- tion. During slow-speed instruction, fixation rates were & Rebecca M. Foerster [email protected] 1 Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany 2 Cognitive Interaction Technology - Center of Excellence (CITEC), Bielefeld University, P. O. Box 100131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany lower with longer fixation durations and more fixations were performed than during high-speed instruction. The results suggest that the number of fixations depends on both the need for visual intake and task completion time. It seems that the decrease in anticipatory eye movements through sensorimotor learning is at the same time a result and a cause of faster task performance

Using the virtual reality device Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment of visual processing capabilities

Foerster RM, Poth CH, Behler C, Botsch M, Schneider WX. Using the virtual reality device Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment of visual processing capabilities. Scientific Reports. 2016;6(1): 37016.Neuropsychological assessment of human visual processing capabilities strongly depends on visual testing conditions including room lighting, stimuli, and viewing-distance. This limits standardization, threatens reliability, and prevents the assessment of core visual functions such as visual processing speed. Increasingly available virtual reality devices allow to address these problems. One such device is the portable, light-weight, and easy-to-use Oculus Rift. It is head-mounted and covers the entire visual field, thereby shielding and standardizing the visual stimulation. A fundamental prerequisite to use Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment is sufficient test-retest reliability. Here, we compare the test-retest reliabilities of Bundesen’s visual processing components (visual processing speed, threshold of conscious perception, capacity of visual working memory) as measured with Oculus Rift and a standard CRT computer screen. Our results show that Oculus Rift allows to measure the processing components as reliably as the standard CRT. This means that Oculus Rift is applicable for standardized and reliable assessment and diagnosis of elementary cognitive functions in laboratory and clinical settings. Oculus Rift thus provides the opportunity to compare visual processing components between individuals and institutions and to establish statistical norm distributions

Ultrahigh temporal resolution of visual presentation using gaming monitors and G-Sync

Poth CH, Foerster RM, Behler C, Schwanecke U, Schneider WX, Botsch M. Ultrahigh temporal resolution of visual presentation using gaming monitors and G-Sync. Behavior Research Methods. 2018;50(1):26-38.all implementations, we confirmed the ultra-high temporal resolution of visual presentation with external measurements using a photodiode. Moreover, a psychophysical experiment revealed that the ultra-high temporal resolution impacts on human visual performance. Specifically, observers’ object recognition performance improved over fine-grained increases of object presentation duration in a theoretically predicted way. Taken together, the present study shows that the G- Sync-based presentation method enables to investigate visual processes whose data patterns were concealed by the low temporal resolution of previous technologies. Therefore, this new presentation method may be a valuable tool for experimental psychologists and neuroscientists studying vision and its temporal characteristics

A large genome-wide association study of age-related macular degeneration highlights contributions of rare and common variants.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.3448Advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, with limited therapeutic options. Here we report on a study of >12 million variants, including 163,714 directly genotyped, mostly rare, protein-altering variants. Analyzing 16,144 patients and 17,832 controls, we identify 52 independently associated common and rare variants (P < 5 × 10(-8)) distributed across 34 loci. Although wet and dry AMD subtypes exhibit predominantly shared genetics, we identify the first genetic association signal specific to wet AMD, near MMP9 (difference P value = 4.1 × 10(-10)). Very rare coding variants (frequency <0.1%) in CFH, CFI and TIMP3 suggest causal roles for these genes, as does a splice variant in SLC16A8. Our results support the hypothesis that rare coding variants can pinpoint causal genes within known genetic loci and illustrate that applying the approach systematically to detect new loci requires extremely large sample sizes.We thank all participants of all the studies included for enabling this research by their participation in these studies. Computer resources for this project have been provided by the high-performance computing centers of the University of Michigan and the University of Regensburg. Group-specific acknowledgments can be found in the Supplementary Note. The Center for Inherited Diseases Research (CIDR) Program contract number is HHSN268201200008I. This and the main consortium work were predominantly funded by 1X01HG006934-01 to G.R.A. and R01 EY022310 to J.L.H