The Role of Attentional Resources in Automatic Detection.
Abstract
A series of experiments investigated the question of whether automatic detection of visual targets requires the investment of attentional resources. Subjects were required to perform an automatic target detection task in conjunction with three different concurrent visual discriminations. Subjects were only able to increase their accuracy on the concurrent task at the expense of decreasing performance on the automatic task, indicating that automatic detection requires the voluntary investment of a limited resource. One component of the limited resource required by the automatic detection process is the spatial attention system. When attention was in a 'distributed state', automatic targets were able to capture the spatial attention system resulting in decreased performance on the concurrent task (the intrusion effect) and increased acuity for forms occurring near the automatic target. In contrast, when attention was 'focussed' on a display area removed from the automatic target, the intrusion effect was eliminated and automatic detection accuracy declined.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA096299
Entities
People
- Billie Nelson
- James E. Hoffman
Organizations
- University of Delaware