Measuring attention using the Posner cuing paradigm: the role of across and within trial target probabilities

Dana A Hayward,Jelena Ristic

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00205

Abstract

Numerous studies conducted within the recent decades have utilized the Posner cuing paradigm for eliciting, measuring, and theoretically characterizing attentional orienting. However, the data from recent studies suggest that the Posner cuing task might not provide an unambiguous measure of attention, as reflexive spatial orienting has been found to interact with extraneous processes engaged by the task's typical structure, i.e., the probability of target presence across trials, which affects tonic alertness, and the probability of target presence within trials, which affects voluntary temporal preparation. To understand the contribution of each of these two processes to the measurement of attentional orienting we assessed their individual and combined effects on reflexive attention elicited by a spatially nonpredictive peripheral cue. Our results revealed that the magnitude of spatial orienting was modulated by joint changes in the global probability of target presence across trials and the local probability of target presence within trials, while the time course of spatial orienting was susceptible to changes in the probability of target presence across trials. These data thus raise important questions about the choice of task parameters within the Posner cuing paradigm and their role in both the measurement and theoretical attributions of the observed attentional effects.

Highlights

Reflexive orienting acts to interrupt ongoing behavior by rapidly shifting attention toward an unexpected event
Motivated by the disparate results showing modulations of reflexive spatial orienting by the processes engaged by across and within trial target probabilities (Tipper and Kingstone, 2005; Gabay and Henik, 2008), we investigated whether systematic changes in those two parameters affected the resultant measure of reflexive attention
We manipulated across trials target probability and within trial target probability in isolation and in conjunction, and measured reflexive spatial orienting elicited by a spatially nonpredictive peripheral onset

Summary

Introduction

Reflexive orienting acts to interrupt ongoing behavior by rapidly shifting attention toward an unexpected event. Extraneous processes that are engaged by the probability of target presence both across and within trials have been found to modulate the spatial attention effects At present it remains unclear whether each of those factors in isolation or in combination influences attentional orienting. To address this question we examined the contribution of across and within trial target probability to reflexive orienting elicited by the Posner cuing task (e.g., Näätänen, 1972; Gabay and Henik, 2008). Understanding the relationship between the parameters of the Posner cuing task and the resultant attentional effects is important for both the theoretical understanding of the measured effects as well as for recognizing the possible limitations of the Posner cuing paradigm as a means of studying spatial orienting in isolation

Methods

Results

Conclusion