Attentional resource allocation among individuals with different fluid intelligence: The integrated control hypothesis and its evidence from pupillometry

Abstract

To clarify the effects of individual differences in fluid intelligence (Gf) on attentional resource allocation, the present study proposes a new hypothesis (i.e., the integrated control hypothesis) based on previous studies and provides preliminary empirical evidence through a pupillometry study. The results showed that both task type and task difficulty play crucial roles in the relationship between Gf and attentional resource allocation when participants perform visuospatial-domain tasks. In particular, in the exploitation task, higher Gf individuals allocated fewer attentional resources than those with average Gf at all the difficulty levels. In contrast, in the exploration task, those with higher intelligence allocated equivalent resources in the low- and medium-difficulty trials and more resources in the high-difficulty trials; this phenomenon was more significant among the male subjects. In conclusion, this study suggests that high Gf individuals tend to control their attention state in tasks with diverse demands, allowing them to dynamically optimize the use of attentional resources and flexibly adapt to changing conditions.