The selection and usage of information for perceiving and remembering intended and unintended object properties.

Abstract

The current study was designed to investigate the linkage between intention, attention, and information selection and detection. Two experiments determined whether the intention to perceive maximum overhead reaching height with the use of handheld rods with different rotational inertia resulted in the ability to remember the rods' heaviness after they were removed from view. Participants were partially successful at distinguishing the heaviness of rods but only when visual information was restricted and reaching height was perceived using the rods by dynamic touch. The results support an ecological approach to attention, and suggest that information picked up for perception can support the memory of other properties of the environment if their informational bases are related.