Abstract
Attention is classically classified according to mode of engagement into voluntary and reflexive, and type of operation into covert and overt. The first distinguishes whether attention is elicited intentionally or by unexpected events; the second, whether attention is directed with or without eye movements. Recently, this taxonomy has been expanded to include automated orienting engaged by overlearned symbols and combined attention engaged by a combination of several modes of function. However, so far, combined effects were demonstrated in covert conditions only, and, thus, here we examined if attentional modes combined in overt responses as well. To do so, we elicited automated, voluntary, and combined orienting in covert, i.e., when participants responded manually and maintained central fixation, and overt cases, i.e., when they responded by looking. The data indicated typical effects for automated and voluntary conditions in both covert and overt data, with the magnitudes of the combined effect larger than the magnitude of each mode alone as well as their additive sum. No differences in the combined effects emerged across covert and overt conditions. As such, these results show that attentional systems combine similarly in covert and overt responses and highlight attention’s dynamic flexibility in facilitating human behavior.
Highlights
Attention is often classified as operating in two modes—reflexive and voluntary—and two types—covert and overt [1]
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether attention combined in a flexible fashion in covert and overt responses
Past work has shown that voluntary and reflexive attentional systems interact when behaviorally relevant cues, like arrows, are made task relevant (e.g., References [21,27,28,29,30]). These results were based on investigations of covert attention, when participants are required to maintain central fixation
Summary
Attention is often classified as operating in two modes—reflexive and voluntary—and two types—covert and overt [1]. The first distinction reflects the way in which attention is engaged, either by unpredictable events in the environment in a reflexive manner [2,3] or by internal goals of an individual in a voluntary manner (e.g., Reference [4]). Reflexive attention is typically engaged quickly by 100–300 ms but it subsides quickly by 500 ms. The second distinction reflects the way in which either of these two modes may be reflected, covertly, while participants respond to target items with manual key presses and keep their eyes fixated on a central location [1,7,8,9] or overtly, while they saccade to targets and withhold manual responses (e.g., References [10,11]). Covert attention is thought to reflect the alignment of mental attentional resources with the response target while overt attention allows for an alignment of oculomotor resources with that response target
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