Internal attentional switching: Effects of predictability, complexity and practice

Abstract

The present research studies the effects that predictability, complexity and practice have on internal switching of attention; that is, on the reorienting of attention to different phases of task processing. To verify these effects we used a task that produces attentional switching through a combination of two kinds of trials. Although these ask the subjects to make a final ‘same-different’ judgement, they are different in their way of displaying the stimuli and impose different partial requirements. This combined presentation forces subjects to reorientate their attention. The experimental results point to a clear influence of practice that favours internal attentional switching when necessary. Neither predictability nor complexity show significant main effects. However, interaction between them is significant in the sense that with low levels of complexity the ease or difficulty with which attentional switching is carried out is unaffected by the predictability of the switching. By contrast, with a greater level of complexity, predictability was seen to favour the switching of attention.