Attentional Processes

Consciousness from a first-person perspective

by Max Velmans

This is a clean PDF of my reply to 36 peer reviews of my target article in BBS, 1991 “Is human information processing conscious?” As it develops quite a few themes that are fundamental to consciousness studies, I have added an Abstract and references so that it can be read as a stand-alone paper. As this paper tries to address all the points raised by the commentaries it ranges widely, and to assist easier reading it has been subdivided into sections that separate experimental issues from the more theoretical and philosophical issues. The commentators included many of the experimentalists and theoreticians that were prominent in consciousness studies at the time, including scientists such as Bernie Baars, Francis Crick, Christoph Koch, John Gardiner, Jeffrey Gray, Marcel Kinsbourne, Ben Libet, Dan Lloyd, George Mandler, Bruce Mangan, Norman Dixon, Howard Shevrin, Keith Stanovich, Geoff Underwood and philosophers such as Ned Block, Fred Dretske, Valery Hardcastle, Georges Rey, Aaron Sloman and Robert van Gulick. Viewed historically, it is interesting to see how confused the literature was at the time concerning how phenomenal consciousness relates to information processing and particularly to attentional processing. Viewed 20 years later, I would still make a similar defence of my original target article although many of the themes introduced in these two papers have now been elaborated in my subsequent writings.

This paper replies to the first 36 commentaries on my target article on “Is human information processing conscious?”... more This paper replies to the first 36 commentaries on my target article on “Is human information processing conscious?” (Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1991, pp. 651-669). The target article focused largely on experimental studies of how consciousness relates to human information processing, tracing their relation from input through to output, while discussion of the implications of the findings both for cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind was relatively brief. The commentaries reversed this emphasis, and so, correspondingly, did the reply. The sequence of topics in the reply roughly follows that of the target article. The discussion begins with a reconsideration of the details of the empirical findings, whether they can be extrapolated to non-laboratory settings, and the extent to which one can rely on their use of subjective reports. This is followed by an in-depth discussion of what is meant by “conscious processing” and of how phenomenal consciousness relates to attentional processing. We then turn to broader philosophical and theoretical issues. I point out some of the reasons why I do not support epiphenomenalism, dualist-interactionism, or reductionism, and elaborate on how first- and third-person views of the mind can be regarded as complementary and mutually irreducible. I suggest how the relation of conscious experiences to their neural correlates can be understood in terms of a dual-aspect theory of information, and how this might be used to resolve some of the paradoxes surrounding the causal interactions of consciousness and brain. I also suggest that, viewed from a first-person perspective, consciousness gives purpose to existence, which allows a different way of viewing its role in evolution.

Fundamentals of agent perception and attention modelling

by Christopher Edward Peters

Peters, C., Castellano, G., Rehm, M., Andre, E., Volpe, G., Camurri, A., Raouzaiou, A., Rapantzikos, K., Karpouzis, K., and Vasalou, A. .
In P. Petta, C. Pelachaud and R. Cowie (Eds.), Emotion-Oriented Systems: The Humaine Handbook, pp. 293-319, Cognitive Technologies Series, Springer, January 2011 isbn:978-3-642-15183-5
Bibtex available here:
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/ec/~cpeters/bibtex/bibtex.html#HandbookPerception2011

Perception and attention mechanisms are of great importance for entities situated within complex dynamic environments.... more Perception and attention mechanisms are of great importance for entities situated within complex dynamic environments. With roles extending greatly beyond passive information services about the external environment, such mechanisms actively prioritise, augment and expedite information to ensure that the potentially relevant is made available so appropriate action can take place. Here, we describe the rationale behind endowing artificial entities, or virtual agents, with real-time perception and attention systems. We cover the fundamentals of designing and building such systems. Once equipped, the resulting agents can achieve a more substantial connection with their environment for the purposes of reacting, planning, decision making and, ultimately, behaving.

Novelty processing and emotion: conceptual developments, empirical findings and virtual environments

by Christopher Edward Peters

Grandjean, D., and Peters, C.
In P. Petta, C. Pelachaud and R. Cowie (Eds.), Emotion-Oriented Systems: The Humaine Handbook, pp. 441-458, Cognitive Technologies Series, Springer, January 2011 isbn:978-3-642-15183-5
Bibtex available here: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/ec/~cpeters/bibtex/bibtex.html#HandbookNovelty2011

Novelty detection is a crucial ability of organisms to detect changes in the environment and to adapt their behaviours... more Novelty detection is a crucial ability of organisms to detect changes in the environment and to adapt their behaviours accordingly. In this chapter we review a conceptual framework of novelty detection informed by cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology. The relationship between attentional processes and novelty detection is also discussed and developed, supported by a case study highlighting methods for implementing a novelty detection capability for artificial agents in virtual environments.

Noise and attentional selectivity: A reproducible phenomenon?

by Peter Forster

Published in the British Journal of Psychology

Co-authored with Arthur T Grierson

It has been suggested that loud noise increases attentional selectivity. Hockey (19706) found that noise improved... more It has been suggested that loud noise increases attentional selectivity. Hockey (19706) found that noise improved performance on the high priority aspects of a complex task and found a corresponding impairment on the low priority aspects of the task. An alternative explanation was offered by Poulton (1976) who suggested that noise impairs performance by masking auditory feedback from subjects’ responses. Four
experiments were carried out in order to investigate the phenomenon. No evidence of impaired performance was found in any of the four experiments, with or without auditory feedback. Thus, neither attentional selectivity nor masking of auditory feedback was found to be a significant factor in these experiments.

It was concluded that this task is not suitable for investigating the effects of noise on attentional selectivity.

Does apparent size capture attention in visual search? Evidence from the Müller-Lyer illusion.

by Michael Proulx

Proulx, M. J. & Green, M. (2011). Does apparent size capture attention in visual search? Evidence from the Müller-Lyer illusion. Journal of Vision, 11(13):21, 1–6, http://www.journalofvision.org/content/11/13/21, doi:10.1167/11.13.21

Is perceived size a crucial factor for the bottom-up guidance of attention? Here, a visual search experiment was used... more Is perceived size a crucial factor for the bottom-up guidance of attention? Here, a visual search experiment was used to
examine whether an irrelevantly longer object can capture attention when participants were to detect a vertical target item.
The longer object was created by an apparent size manipulation, the Müller–Lyer illusion; however, all objects contained the
same number of pixels. The vertical target was detected more efficiently when it was also perceived as the longer item that
was defined by apparent size. Further analysis revealed that the longer Müller–Lyer object received a greater degree of
attentional priority than published results for other features such as retinal size, luminance contrast, and the abrupt onset of
a new object. The present experiment has demonstrated for the first time that apparent size can capture attention and, thus,
provide bottom-up guidance on the basis of perceived salience.
Keywords: attention, apparent size, Müller–Lyer, visual search

Bottom-up guidance in visual search for conjunctions.

by Michael Proulx

Target-nontarget similarity modulates stimulus-driven control in visual search

by Michael Proulx

Biased competition and visual search: the role of luminance and size contrast

by Michael Proulx

Perceptual load alters visual excitability

by David Carmel

Increasing perceptual load reduces the processing of visual stimuli outside the focus of attention, but the mechanism... more Increasing perceptual load reduces the processing of visual stimuli outside the focus of attention, but the mechanism underlying these effects remains unclear. Here we tested an account attributing the effects of perceptual load to modulations of visual cortex excitability. In contrast to stimulus competition accounts, which propose that load should affect simultaneous, but not sequential, stimulus presentations, the visual excitability account makes the novel prediction that load should affect detection sensitivity for both simultaneous and sequential presentations. Participants fixated a stimulus stream, responding to targets defined by either a color (low load) or color and orientation conjunctions (high load). Additionally, detection sensitivity was measured for a peripheral critical stimulus (CS) presented occasionally. Increasing load at fixation reduced sensitivity to the peripheral CSs; this effect was similar regardless of whether CSs were presented simultaneously with central stimuli or during the (otherwise empty) interval between them. Controls ruled out explanations of the results in terms of strategic task prioritization. These findings support a cortical excitability account for perceptual load, challenging stimulus competition accounts.
tition accounts.

Mather, E., Schafer, G. and Houston-Price, C. (in press). The impact of novel labels on visual processing during infancy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology.

by Emily Mather

Anxiety and attentional control in football penalty kicks: A mechanistic account of performance failure under pressure

by Greg Wood

Thesis

Football penalty kicks are having increasing influence in today’s professional game. Despite this, little scientific... more Football penalty kicks are having increasing influence in today’s professional game. Despite this, little scientific evidence currently exists to ascertain the mechanisms behind performance failure in this task and/or the efficacy of training designed to improve penalty shooting. In a football penalty kick it has been reported that the majority of kickers do not look to the area they wish to place the ball; preferring to focus on the ‘keeper and predict anticipatory movements before shooting. Such a strategy seems counterproductive and contradictory to current research findings regarding visually guided aiming. Coordination of eye and limb movements has been shown to be essential for the production of accurate motor responses. A disruption to this coordination not only seems to negatively affect performance, but subsequent motor responses seem to follow direction of gaze. Thus, where the eyes lead actions tend to follow. In study 1, ten participants were asked to kick a standard sized football to alternate corners of a goal, whilst looking centrally and whilst looking where they intended to hit. This disruption of eye-limb coordination brought about a 15% reduction in kicking accuracy. When participants were asked to fixate centrally, their shots hit more centrally (17cm) than when they were allowed to look where they intended to hit. These results were in spite of no significant differences between the number of missed shots, preparation time and ball speed data across conditions. We concluded that centrally focused fixations dragged resultant motor actions inwards towards more central target locations. Put simply, where the eyes looked shots tended to follow. The second study sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in a sporting environment in order to establish how anxiety affects performance in penalty kicks. Fourteen experienced footballers took penalty kicks under low- and high-threat counterbalanced conditions while wearing a gaze registration system. Fixations to target locations (goalkeeper and goal area) were determined using frame-by-frame analysis. When anxious, footballers made faster first fixations and fixated for significantly longer toward the goalkeeper. This disruption in gaze behaviour brought about significant reductions in shooting accuracy, with shots becoming significantly centralized and within the goalkeeper’s reach. These findings support the predictions of ACT, as anxious participants were more likely to focus on the “threatening” goalkeeper, owing to an increased influence of the stimulus-driven attentional control system. A further prediction of ACT is that when anxious, performers are more likely to be distracted, particularly if the distracter is threat related. When facing penalty kicks in football (soccer), goalkeepers frequently incorporate strategies that are designed to distract the kicker. However, no direct empirical evidence exists to ascertain what effect such visual distractions have on the attentional control, and performance, of footballers. In the third study, eighteen experienced footballers took five penalty kicks under counterbalanced conditions of threat (low vs. high) and goalkeeper movement (stationary vs. waving arms) while wearing eye-tracking equipment. Results suggested that participants were more distracted by a moving goalkeeper than a stationary one and struggled to disengage from a moving goalkeeper under situations of high threat. Significantly more penalties were saved on trials when the goalkeeper was moving and shots were also generally hit closer to the goalkeeper (centrally) on these trials. The results provide partial support for the predictions of attentional control theory and implications for kickers and goalkeepers are discussed. The previous studies showed that anxiety can disrupt visual attention, visuomotor control and subsequent shot location in penalty kicks. However, optimal visual attention has been trained in other far aiming skills, improving performance and resistance to pressure. In study 4, we therefore asked a team of ten university soccer players to follow a quiet eye (QE; Vickers, 1996) training program, designed to align gaze with aiming intention to optimal scoring zones, over a seven week period. Performance and gaze parameters were compared to a placebo group (ten players) who received no instruction, but practiced the same number of penalty kicks over the same time frame. Results from a retention test indicated that the QE trained group had more effective visual attentional control; were significantly more accurate; and had 50% fewer shots saved by the goalkeeper than the placebo group. Both groups then competed in a penalty shootout to explore the influence of anxiety on attentional control and shooting accuracy. Under the pressure of the shootout the QE trained group failed to maintain their accuracy advantage, despite maintaining more distal aiming fixations of longer duration. The results therefore provide only partial support for the effectiveness of brief QE training interventions for experienced performers. This series of studies are the first to explore the gaze behaviour of football penalty takers in a quest to uncover and understand anxiety’s negative influence on attentional control and performance. They are also the first to explore the efficacy of goalkeeper distractions and training in improving performance from both the goalkeeper’s and kicker’s perspective. The results of these studies conclude that when anxious, penalty takers show an attentional bias toward the ‘threatening’ goalkeeper that can be increased and utilised by a goalkeeper employing distraction techniques and that penalty takers do benefit, to some extent, from a gaze-based pre-shot routine

The Eyes Have It! The psychology of success and failure for penalty takers

by Greg Wood

Wood. G. & Wilson, M.R. (2010). The Eyes Have It! The psychology of success and failure for penalty takers. Soccer Journal, Nov/Dec issue 14-15

Quiet-eye training for soccer penalty kicks

by Greg Wood

Cite as: Wood, G. and Wilson, M.R (in press). Quiet-eye training for soccer penalty kicks. Cognitive Processing

Anxiety has been shown to disrupt visual attention, visuomotor control and subsequent shot location in soccer penalty... more Anxiety has been shown to disrupt visual attention, visuomotor control and subsequent shot location in soccer penalty kicks. However, optimal visual attention has been trained in other far aiming skills, improving performance and resistance to pressure. We therefore asked a team of ten university soccer players to follow a quiet eye (QE; Vickers, 1996) training program, designed to align gaze with aiming intention to optimal scoring zones, over a seven week period. Performance and gaze parameters were compared to a placebo group (ten players) who received no instruction, but practiced the same number of penalty kicks over the same time frame. Results from a retention test indicated that the QE trained group had more effective visual attentional control; were significantly more accurate; and had 50% fewer shots saved by the goalkeeper than the placebo group. Both groups then competed in a penalty shootout to explore the influence of anxiety on attentional control and shooting accuracy. Under the pressure of the shootout the QE trained group failed to maintain their accuracy advantage, despite maintaining more distal aiming fixations of longer duration. The results therefore provide only partial support for the effectiveness of brief QE training interventions for experienced performers.

Gaze behaviour and shooting strategies in football penalty kicks: Implications of a ‘keeper-dependent approach

by Greg Wood

Cite as Wood, G. & Wilson, M.R. (2010). Gaze behaviour and shooting strategies in football penalty kicks: Implications of a ‘keeper-dependent approach. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 41, 293-312.

It has been suggested that when footballers take penalty kicks they generally focus on the goalkeeper, ignoring the... more It has been suggested that when footballers take penalty kicks they generally focus on the goalkeeper, ignoring the target area. In experiment 1, we tested the implications of this strategy by constraining gaze centrally while asking participants to hit distal locations. When gaze was constrained, resultant shots became significantly centralised despite the participants striving to hit distal locations. In experiment 2, the gaze behaviour of kickers was analysed when taking penalty kicks with a goalkeeper present. Three distinct shooting strategies were identified and the most prominent strategy implemented was a ‘keeper-focused strategy. Individual analyses revealed that the utilisation of these strategies is highly variable within and between participants. However, better shooters used a target-focused approach more frequently, while the poorer shooters used a ‘keeper-focused strategy. Implications and future research directions are outlined

The Influence of Anxiety on Visual Attentional Control in Basketball Free Throw Shooting

by Greg Wood

The aim of this study was to test the predictions of attentional control theory using the quiet eye period as an... more The aim of this study was to test the predictions of attentional control theory using the quiet eye period as an objective measure of attentional control. Ten basketball players took free throws in two counterbalanced experimental conditions designed to manipulate the anxiety they experienced. Point of gaze was measured using an ASL Mobile Eye tracker and fixations including the quiet eye were determined using frame-byframe analysis. The manipulation of anxiety resulted in significant reductions in the duration of the quiet eye period and free throw success rate, thus supporting the predictions of attentional control theory. Anxiety impaired goal-directed attentional control (quiet eye period) at the expense of stimulus-driven control (more fixations of shorter duration to various targets). The findings suggest that attentional control
theory may be a useful theoretical framework for examining the relationship between anxiety and performance in visuomotor sport skills.

Anxiety, Attentional Control, and Performance Impairment in Penalty Kicks

by Greg Wood

The current study sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in a sporting environment.... more The current study sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in a sporting environment. Fourteen experienced footballers took penalty kicks under low- and high threat counterbalanced conditions while wearing a gaze registration system. Fixations to target locations (goalkeeper and goal area) were determined using frame-by-frame analysis. When anxious, footballers made faster first fixations and fixated for significantly longer toward the goalkeeper. This disruption in gaze behavior brought about significant reductions in shooting accuracy, with shots becoming significantly centralized and within the goalkeeper’s reach. These findings support the predictions of ACT, as anxious participants were more likely to focus on the “threatening” goalkeeper, owing to an increased influence of the stimulus-driven attentional control system.

A moving goalkeeper distracts penalty takers and impairs shooting accuracy

by Greg Wood

When facing penalty kicks in football (soccer), goalkeepers frequently incorporate strategies that are designed to... more When facing penalty kicks in football (soccer), goalkeepers frequently incorporate strategies that are designed to distract the kicker. However, no direct empirical evidence exists to ascertain what effect such visual distractions have on the attentional control, and performance, of footballers. Eighteen experienced footballers took five penalty kicks under counterbalanced conditions of threat (low vs. high) and goalkeeper movement (stationary vs. waving arms) while wearing eye-tracking equipment. Results suggested that participants were more distracted by a moving goalkeeper than a stationary one and struggled to disengage from a moving goalkeeper under situations of high threat. Significantly more penalties were saved on trials when the goalkeeper was moving and shots were also generally hit closer to the goalkeeper (centrally) on these trials. The results provide partial support for the predictions of attentional control theory and implications for kickers and goalkeepers are discussed.