Peripheral cues and gaze direction jointly focus attention and inhibition of return

Centrally presented gaze cues typically elicit a delayed inhibition of return (IOR) effect compared to peripheral exogenous cues. We investigated whether gaze cues elicit early onset IOR when presented peripherally. Faces were presented in the left or right peripheral hemifields, which then gazed upward or downward. A target appeared in one of four oblique spatial locations giving the cue and target horizontal or vertical congruency, both, or neither. After establishing that peripheral movement and gaze direction jointly facilitate target processing at short durations (200 ms: Experiment 1), IOR was evident for peripheral motion at longer time courses (800 and 2400 ms: Experiment 2). Only after 2400 ms did gaze direction additionally contribute to IOR for the specific gazed at location, showing the inverse pattern of response times to Experiment 1. The onset of IOR for gaze cues is independent from peripheral exogenous cueing but nevertheless contributes to the allocation of attention

Increasing the immersivity of 360° videos facilitates learning and memory: implications for theory and practice

Recent years have seen an increase in the use of immersive virtual reality (IVR) technology in education and training. Studies examining the efficacy of IVR-based interventions have shown improved performance compared to traditional training programmes; however, little is known about whether such improvements can be detected at the level of individual cognitive abilities. The present study sought to examine the effect of IVR on memory using an incidental learning paradigm. Undergraduate volunteers viewed a three-minute 360° video clip under immersive and non-immersive conditions– respectively, using a Head Mounted Display (HMD) or a 2D flat screen monitor – followed by a surprise recall task. Although both devices supported active exploration of the scene in 360°, recall was significantly improved for learners in the immersive condition. These findings suggest that IVR has a facilitative effect on cognition, and that learners may naturally engage with IVR-delivered content without any special instruction or preparation

Medium versus difficult visual search: How a quantitative change in the functional visual field leads to a qualitative difference in performance

The dominant theories of visual search assume that search is a process involving comparisons of individual items against a target description that is based on the properties of the target in isolation. Here, we present four experiments that demonstrate that this holds true only in difficult search. In medium search it seems that the relation between the target and neighbouring items is also part of the target description.We used two sets of oriented lines to construct the search items. The cardinal set contained horizontal and vertical lines, the diagonal set contained left diagonal and right diagonal lines. In all experiments, participants knew the identity of the target and the line set used to construct it. In difficult search this knowledge allowed performance to improve in displays where only half of the search items came from the same line set as the target (50% eligibility), relative to displays where all items did (100% eligibility). However, in medium search, performance was actually poorer for 50% eligibility, especially on target-absent trials.This opposite effect of ineligible items in medium search and difficult search is hard to reconcile with theories based on individual items. It is more in line with theories that conceive search as a sequence of fixations where the number of items processed during a fixation depends on the difficulty of the search task: When search is medium, multiple items are processed per fixation. But when search is difficult only a single item is processed

Visual cognition during real social interaction

Laboratory studies of social visual cognition often simulate the critical aspects of joint attention by having participants interact with a computer-generated avatar. Recently, there has been a movement toward examining these processes during authentic social interaction. In this review, we will focus on attention to faces, attentional misdirection, and a phenomenon we have termed social inhibition of return (Social IOR), that have revealed aspects of social cognition that were hitherto unknown. We attribute these discoveries to the use of paradigms that allow for more realistic social interactions to take place. We also point to an area that has begun to attract a considerable amount of interest—that of Theory of Mind (ToM) and automatic perspective taking—and suggest that this too might benefit from adopting a similar approach

Computerized stimuli for studying oddity effects

Visually hunting predators must overcome the challenges that prey groups present. One such challenge is the confusion effect where an overburdened visual system means predators are unable to successfully target prey. A strategy to overcome confusion is the targeting of distinct, or odd, individuals (the oddity effect). In live prey experiments, manipulation of group member phenotypes can be challenging and prey may differ on more than the single feature one intends to define as odd. The use of highly controllable computerized stimuli to study predator-prey interactions is increasingly popular in the field of behavioral ecology. However, to our knowledge, the validity of computerized stimuli to study the oddity effect has not been established.Predator choice experiments were conducted using naive stickleback predators to ascertain whether the oddity effect could be demonstrated in the absence of live prey. We found evidence for both the oddity effect and preferential targeting of group edges and low density regions, as would be predicted if predators targeted prey individuals to minimize confusion. The oddity effect was evident at a low threshold, above which dots were no longer perceived as odd, and no longer attacked more often than expected by chance.We conclude that computerized stimuli are an improved, practical method for studying oddity effects while further validating the use of similar methods for studying other aspects of visual predation. In addition to higher control of ‘prey’ appearance, the replacement of live prey animals with digital stimuli is ethically beneficial and reusing code improves experimental efficiency

Looming motion primes the visuomotor system.

A wealth of evidence now shows that human and animal observers display greater sensitivity to objects that move toward them than to objects that remain static or move away. Increased sensitivity in humans is often evidenced by reaction times that increase in rank order from looming, to receding, to static targets. However, it is not clear whether the processing advantage enjoyed by looming motion is mediated by the attention system or the motor system. The present study investigated this by first examining whether sensitivity is to looming motion per se or to certain monocular or binocular cues that constitute stereoscopic motion in depth. None of the cues accounted for the looming advantage. A perceptual measure was then used to examine performance with minimal involvement of the motor system. Results showed that looming and receding motion were equivalent in attracting attention, suggesting that the looming advantage is indeed mediated by the motor system. These findings suggest that although motion itself is sufficient for attentional capture, motion direction can prime motor responses. © 2013 American Psychological Association

The role of transients in action observation

A large number of studies have now described the various ways in which the observation of another person’s dynamic movement can influence the speed with which the observer is able to prepare a motor action themselves. The typical results are most often explained with reference to theories that link perception and action. Such theories argue that the cognitive structures associated with each share common representations. Consequently, action preparation and action observation are often said to be functionally equivalent. However, the dominance of these theories in explaining action observation effects has masked the potential contribution from processes associated with the detection of low-level “transients” resulting from observing a body movement, such as motion and sound. In the present review, we describe work undertaken in one particular action observation phenomenon (“social inhibition of return”) and show that the transient account provides the best explanation of the effect. We argue that future work should consider attention capture and orienting as a potential contributing factor to action observation effects more broadly

When Your Decisions Are Not (Quite) Your Own: Action Observation Influences Free Choices

A growing number of studies have begun to assess how the actions of one individual are represented in an observer. Using a variant of an action observation paradigm, four experiments examined whether one person's behaviour can influence the subjective decisions and judgements of another. In Experiment 1, two observers sat adjacent to each other and took turns to freely select and reach to one of two locations. Results showed that participants were less likely to make a response to the same location as their partner. In three further experiments observers were asked to decide which of two familiar products they preferred or which of two faces were most attractive. Results showed that participants were less likely to choose the product or face occupying the location of their partner's previous reaching response. These findings suggest that action observation can influence a range of free choice preferences and decisions. Possible mechanisms through which this influence occurs are discussed

Real Person Interaction in Visual Attention Research

Abstract. An important development in cognitive psychology in the past decade has been the examination of visual attention during real social interaction. This contrasts traditional laboratory studies of attention, including "social attention" in which observers perform tasks alone. In this review, we show that although the lone-observer method has been central to attention research, real person interaction paradigms have not only uncovered the processes that occur during "joint attention" but have also revealed attentional processes previously thought not to occur. Furthermore, the examination of some visual attention processes almost invariably requires the use of real person paradigms. While we do not argue for an increase in "ecological validity" for its own sake, we do suggest that research using real person interaction has greatly benefited the development of visual attention theories