Attentional Orienting in Front and Rear Spaces in a Virtual Reality Discrimination Task.

Rébaï Soret,Vsevolod Peysakhovich,Pom Charras,Christophe Hurter

doi:10.3390/vision6010003

Abstract

Recent studies on covert attention suggested that the visual processing of information in front of us is different, depending on whether the information is present in front of us or if it is a reflection of information behind us (mirror information). This difference in processing suggests that we have different processes for directing our attention to objects in front of us (front space) or behind us (rear space). In this study, we investigated the effects of attentional orienting in front and rear space consecutive of visual or auditory endogenous cues. Twenty-one participants performed a modified version of the Posner paradigm in virtual reality during a spaceship discrimination task. An eye tracker integrated into the virtual reality headset was used to make sure that the participants did not move their eyes and used their covert attention. The results show that informative cues produced faster response times than non-informative cues but no impact on target identification was observed. In addition, we observed faster response times when the target occurred in front space rather than in rear space. These results are consistent with an orienting cognitive process differentiation in the front and rear spaces. Several explanations are discussed. No effect was found on subjects’ eye movements, suggesting that participants did not use their overt attention to improve task performance.

Highlights

Attentional processes are largely studied by cognitive researchers in desktop conditions and in virtual reality [1,2,3,4]
For exogenous cues, if the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) is greater than 300 ms, the cost–benefit balance is generally reversed (RT invalid < response time (RT) valid), an effect known as inhibition of return (IOR)
The study of this cost/benefit balance makes it possible to determine the impact of a cue on the subjects’ spatial orienting processes. This spatial orienting process can be supported by eye movement or can be performed covertly, without shifting the gaze to the localization predicted by the cue

Summary

Introduction

Attentional processes are largely studied by cognitive researchers in desktop conditions and in virtual reality [1,2,3,4]. Classic results show faster response time (RT) for valid cues than for neutral cues (treatment benefit) and faster response times for neutral cues than invalid cues (treatment cost) The study of this cost/benefit balance makes it possible to determine the impact of a cue on the subjects’ spatial orienting processes. This cost–benefit balance depends on many factors, such as the time interval between the onset of the cue and the target (stimulus onset asynchrony = SOA). For exogenous cues, if the SOA is greater than 300 ms, the cost–benefit balance is generally reversed (RT invalid < RT valid), an effect known as inhibition of return (IOR) This eye tracker was used to record eye response times to measure the possible effect of cues on the subjects’ eye movements

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Conclusion