Attentional Load Research Articles

Unraveling the Left-Right Judgment Task in Chronic Low Back Pain: Insights Through Behavioral, Electrophysiological, Motor Imagery, and Bodily Disruption Perspectives

Bodily disruptions have been consistently demonstrated in individuals with chronic low back pain. The performance on the left-right judgment task has been purposed as an indirect measure of the cortical proprioceptive representation of the body. It has been suggested to be dependent on implicit motor imagery, although the available evidence is conflicting. Hence, the aim of this case-control observational study was to examine the performance (accuracy and reaction times) and event-related potentials while performing the left-right judgment task for back and hand images in individuals with chronic low back pain versus healthy controls, along with its relationship with self-reported measurements and quantitative sensory testing. While self-reported data suggested bodily disruptions in the chronic low back pain sample, this was not supported by quantitative sensory testing. Although both groups displayed the same performance, our results suggested an increased attentional load on participants with chronic low back pain to achieve equal performance, measured by a higher N1 peak amplitude in occipital electrodes, especially when the effect of contextual images arises. The absence of differences in the reaction times for the left-right judgment task between both groups, along with inconsistencies in self-reported and quantitative sensory testing data, could question the involvement of implicit motor imagery in solving the task. In conclusion, our results suggest disrupted attentional processing in participants with chronic low back pain to solve the left-right judgment task. PerspectiveAlthough there are no differences in the performance of the left-right judgment task (hits, reaction times) between chronic low back pain patients and controls, the analysis of event-related potentials revealed that patients require a higher cognitive load, measured by N1 peak amplitude.

The effect of verbal praise on prospective memory.

Verbal praise is often used to improve prospective memory performance in daily life. According to the motivation cognitive model, the promotional effect of verbal praise on prospective memory may depend largely on redeploying attentional resources, so its promotional effect is likely to be influenced by attention. Two groups of college students (n = 128, n = 117) participated in two experimental studies that examined this hypothesis. Experiment 1 manipulated attention load by changing the difficulty of the ongoing tasks to focus on the effect of verbal praise on prospective memory under different attention load conditions. The results showed that verbal praise promoted prospective memory performance under both attentional load conditions (low, high), but verbal praise mainly promoted the prospective component when the attentional load was low, meanwhile, verbal praise mainly promoted the retrospective component when the attention load was high. Experiment 2 altered the dependence of prospective memory tasks on attentional resources by manipulating the cue focality, further exploring the promotional effect of verbal praise on prospective memory with different types of cues under the low attention load condition. The results showed that verbal praise only promoted prospective memory when non-focal cues were used. The results of this study partially verified the motivation cognitive model.

Attention influences the effects of the previous form orientation on the current motion direction estimation

Recent studies have found that the estimates of motion directions are biased toward the previous form orientations, showing serial dependence, and the serial dependence does not involve cognitive abilities. In the current study, we conducted two experiments to investigate whether and how attention—a cognitive ability—affected the serial dependence. The results showed that serial dependence was present in the current study, reproducing the previous findings. Importantly, when the attentional load reduced the reliability (i.e., estimation accuracy and precision) of previous form orientations (Experiment 1), the serial dependence decreased, meaning that the biases of motion direction estimates toward previous form orientations were reduced; in contrast, when the attentional load reduced the reliability of current motion directions (Experiment 2), the serial dependence increased, meaning that the biases of motion direction estimates toward previous form orientations were increased. These trends were well consistent with the prediction of the Bayesian inference theory. Therefore, the current study revealed the involvement of attention in the serial dependence of current motion direction estimation on the previous form orientation, demonstrating that the serial dependence was cognitive and the attentional effect can be a Bayesian inference process, initially revealing its computational mechanism.

Eye tracking-based evaluation of accessible and usable interactive systems: tool set of guidelines and methodological issues

AbstractThis paper describes some fundamentals and challenges in using eye tracking for the assessment of usability and accessibility in the fields in Human–Computer Interaction and Educational Computing. This technique has great potential since it allows considering human factors and individual differences in these areas. This non-invasive method, of physiological nature, allows to know, in an objective way, the visual behavior of the users when facing a user interface or educational material, allowing to infer conclusions related to psychological processes, such as attention or cognitive load. The purpose of this work is to propose a tool set of guidelines and measures, as well as a methodological approach, to be used in eye tracking assessments. This proposal is based on and validated by the authors’ previous experience and results in the application of this technique.

CEO attention and sustainable development: An analysis of its influence on firm's sustainability orientation

AbstractDrawing on the attention‐based view and leadership theory, this study proposes a theoretical framework for the relationship between CEOs' attention load and firms' sustainability orientation, with supply chain leadership and CEOs' social capital playing mediating and moderating roles, respectively. We tested the theoretical framework by analysing panel data on 236 CEOs from 102 listed companies in the agricultural and food industries in China from 2012 to 2019. We find that (a) CEOs' attention load negatively affects firms' sustainable orientation; (b) this relationship is partially mediated by firms' supply chain leadership; and (c) CEOs' social capital positively moderates this mediating effect. Lower CEO attention loads are associated with increased supply chain leadership and higher sustainability orientation for the firm. Additionally, CEOs' social capital positively moderates the relationship between attention load and sustainability orientation. This study integrates the attention‐based view and leadership theory into sustainable development research, investigating the translation mechanism of CEO attention to a firm's managerial orientation towards sustainability. It contributes to leadership theory by extending sustainable and ethical leadership from an intra‐ to inter‐organisational context.

Research on Virtual Reality Experience and User Behavior from the Perspective of Psychology

Virtual reality (VR) technology has attracted a lot of attention in many fields, including entertainment, healthcare, education and industrial applications. As technology continues to advance, VR has become a powerful tool for psychological research to delve deeper into human cognition, emotion, and behavior. This thesis aims to study the relationship between virtual reality experience and user behavior from the perspective of psychology. By combining virtual reality technology and psychological theory, we explore how virtual reality affects users' perceptual, emotional, and cognitive processes, as well as users' behavior in virtual environments. We first review the development of virtual reality technology, including its definition, technical composition and application areas. We then propose a theoretical framework of psychology to explain the psychological mechanisms of virtual reality experience. This includes important concepts such as perception, attention, emotion, and cognitive load, which play a key role in understanding user behavior and experience in virtual reality. The experience of virtual reality includes not only visual and auditory perception, but also the emotional experience and physical perception of the user. We'll delve into how virtual reality creates immersion, evokes emotions, and changes the user's physical perception. At the same time, we will focus on the user's behavior in the virtual environment, including their actions, interactions and reactions. The research method is an important part of exploring virtual reality experience and user behavior. We will cover experimental design, data acquisition tools, and analytical methods to help researchers delve deeper into this area. In the empirical research section of this paper, we will present a series of specific studies that demonstrate how virtual reality affects user attention, emotion, cognition, and behavior. These studies will provide insights that will help us better understand the psychological effects of virtual reality. Finally, in the discussion and conclusion section, we will summarize the findings, discuss their connection to psychological theory, and make suggestions for future research. These studies are not only of great significance to the field of psychology, but also provide strong support for the application and improvement of virtual reality technology.

Neural processing of bottom-up perception of biological motion under attentional load

Considering its importance for one’s survival and social significance, biological motion (BM) perception is assumed to occur automatically. Previous behavioral results showed that task-irrelevant BM in the periphery interfered with task performance at the fovea. Under selective attention, BM perception is supported by a network of regions including the occipito-temporal (OTC), parietal, and premotor cortices. Retinotopy studies that use BM stimulus showed distinct maps for its processing under and away from selective attention. Based on these findings, we investigated how bottom-up perception of BM would be processed in the human brain under attentional load when it was shown away from the focus of attention as a task-irrelevant stimulus. Participants (N = 31) underwent an fMRI study in which they performed an attentionally demanding visual detection task at the fovea while intact or scrambled point light displays of BM were shown at the periphery. Our results showed the main effect of attentional load in fronto-parietal regions and both univariate activity maps and multivariate pattern analysis results support the attentional load modulation on the task-irrelevant peripheral stimuli. However, this effect was not specific to intact BM stimuli and was generalized to motion stimuli as evidenced by the motion-sensitive OTC involvement during the presence of dynamic stimuli in the periphery. These results confirm and extend previous work by showing that task-irrelevant distractors can be processed by stimulus-specific regions when there are enough attentional resources available. We discussed the implications of these results for future studies.

Differential attentional costs of encoding specific and gist episodic memory representations.

Theories of episodic memory posit that more attentional resources are needed for encoding specific compared to gist representations. This position has been challenged by recent findings of similar divided attention (DA) at encoding costs on both specific and gist representations. However, the disrupting effects of DA on specific representations may emerge under less difficult DA conditions than those under which effects on gist representations emerge. The present study addressed this possibility by manipulating the difficulty of a concurrent DA task (low, intermediate, or high difficulty) during encoding among 176 young adult participants, who encoded face-scene pairs under either full attention or one of the three levels of DA. During retrieval, participants discriminated intact pairs from recombined pairs that varied in how similar they were to studied pairs. Results, interpreted using a multinomial-processing-tree model of specific and gist memory, showed that the disrupting effects of DA on specific representations emerged under less difficult attentional loads (intermediate-demanding condition) compared to those under which gist representations were disrupted (high-demanding condition). These findings reinforce the suggestion of differential attentional demands for specific and gist representations and also provide insights into attentional resource theories of adult age-related cognitive decline. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

From Driver to Supervisor: Comparing Cognitive Load and EEG-Based Attentional Resource Allocation Across Automation Levels

With increasing automation, drivers’ roles transition from active operators to passive system supervisors, affecting their behaviour and cognitive processes. This study addresses the attentional resource allocation and subjective cognitive load during manual, SAE Level 2, and SAE Level 3 driving in a realistic environment. An experiment was conducted on a test track with 30 participants using a prototype automated vehicle. While driving, participants were subjected to a passive auditory oddball task and their electroencephalogram was recorded. The study analysed the amplitude of the P3a event-related potential component elicited by novel environmental stimuli, an objective measure of attentional resource allocation. The subjective cognitive load was assessed using the NASA Task Load Index. Results showed no significant difference in subjective cognitive load between manual and Level 2 driving, but a decrease in subjective cognitive load in Level 3 driving. The P3a amplitude was highest during manual driving, indicating increased attentional resource allocation to environmental sounds compared to Level 2 and Level 3 driving. This may suggest that during automated driving, drivers allocate fewer attentional resources to processing environmental information. It remains unclear whether the decreased processing of environmental stimuli in automated driving is due to top-down attention control (leading to attention withdrawal) or bottom-up competition for resources induced by cognitive load. This study provides novel empirical evidence on resource allocation and subjective cognitive load in automated driving. The findings highlight the importance of managing drivers’ attention and cognitive load with implications for enhancing automation safety and the design of user interfaces.

N1-P2 event-related potentials and perceived intensity are associated: The effects of a weak pre-stimulus and attentional load on processing of a subsequent intense stimulus

A weak stimulus presented immediately before a more intense one reduces both the N1-P2 cortical response and the perceived intensity of the intense stimulus. The former effect is referred to as cortical prepulse inhibition (PPI), the latter as prepulse inhibition of perceived stimulus intensity (PPIPSI). Both phenomena are used to study sensory gating in clinical and non-clinical populations, however little is known about their relationship. Here, we investigated 1) the possibility that cortical PPI and PPIPSI are associated, and 2) how they are affected by attentional load. Participants were tasked with comparing the intensity of an electric pulse presented alone versus one preceded 200 ms by a weaker electric prepulse (Experiment 1), or an acoustic pulse presented alone with one preceded 170 ms by a weaker acoustic prepulse (Experiment 2). A counting task (easy vs. hard) manipulating attentional load was included in Experiment 2. In both experiments, we observed a relationship between N1-P2 amplitude and perceived intensity, where greater cortical PPI was associated with a higher probability of perceiving the ‘pulse with prepulse’ as less intense. Moreover, higher attentional load decreased observations of PPIPSI but had no effect on N1-P2 amplitude. Based on the findings we propose that PPIPSI partially relies on the allocation of attentional resources towards monitoring cortical channels that process stimulus intensity characteristics such as the N1-P2 complex.

Attentional Strategies and the Transition From Subitizing to Estimation in Numerosity Perception.

The common view of the transition between subitizing and numerosity estimation regimes is that there is a hard bound on the subitizing range, and beyond this range, people estimate. However, this view does not adequately address the behavioral signatures of enumeration under conditions of attentional load or in the immediate post-subitizing range. The possibility that there might exist a numerosity range where both processes of subitizing and estimation operate in conjunction has so far been ignored. Here, we investigate this new proposal, that people strategically combine the processes of subitizing and estimation to maximize accuracy and precision, given time or attentional constraints. We present a process-level account of how subitizing and estimation can be combined through strategic deployment of attention to maximize the precision of perceived numerosity given time constraints. We then describe a computational model of this account and apply it in two experimental simulations to demonstrate how it can explain key findings in prior enumeration research. While recent modeling work has argued that the behavioral signatures of enumeration can best be explained through a single numerosity system with a single form of representation, we argue that our model demonstrates how the traditional two-systems view of numerical representation accounts for behavioral data through coordination with a unified attentional mechanism, rather than a unifiedrepresentation.

Retracted: Sustained Auditory Attentional Load Decreases Audiovisual Integration in Older and Younger Adults.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2021/4516133.].

Comparing highly trained handball players’ and non-athletes’ performance in a multi-object tracking task

Highly trained team sports players possess highly developed visual attentional skills, compared with non-athletes. These athletes also have much better motor control than non-athletes. This study compared the performance of intensively trained handball players with non-athletes in a modified version of the multiple object tracking (MOT) task, in which participants were instructed to point at the moving targets with their fingers. We hypothesized that athletes will perform better in the MOT task than non-athletes, and that the increased visual attentional load in the MOT task will affect pointing movements to a smaller degree in athletes than in non-athletes. The results partially support our hypotheses. Highly trained handball players performed much better in the MOT task than non-athletes, which confirms that athletes have better visual attentional skills. Considering the influence of attentional load on motor performance during the MOT task, the results suggest that among athletes, this influence may be present, but limited. However, this result should be interpreted with caution.

An updating-based working memory load alters the dynamics of eye movements but not their spatial extent during free viewing of natural scenes

The relationship between spatial deployments of attention and working memory load is an important topic of study, with clear implications for real-world tasks such as driving. Previous research has generally shown that attentional breadth broadens under higher load, while exploratory eye-movement behaviour also appears to change with increasing load. However, relatively little research has compared the effects of working memory load on different kinds of spatial deployment, especially in conditions that require updating of the contents of working memory rather than simple retrieval. The present study undertook such a comparison by measuring participants’ attentional breadth (via an undirected Navon task) and their exploratory eye-movement behaviour (a free-viewing recall task) under low and high updating working memory loads. While spatial aspects of task performance (attentional breadth, and peripheral extent of image exploration in the free-viewing task) were unaffected by the load manipulation, the exploratory dynamics of the free-viewing task (including fixation durations and scan-path lengths) changed under increasing load. These findings suggest that temporal dynamics, rather than the spatial extent of exploration, are the primary mechanism affected by working memory load during the spatial deployment of attention. Further, individual differences in exploratory behaviour were observed on the free-viewing task: all metrics were highly correlated across working memory load blocks. These findings suggest a need for further investigation of individual differences in eye-movement behaviour; potential factors associated with these individual differences, including working memory capacity and persistence versus flexibility orientations, are discussed.

Deficits in sustained attention in adolescents with bipolar disorder during their first manic episode

ObjectivesEvaluate differences in sustained attention (SAT) and associated neurofunctional profiles between bipolar disorder type I (BD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and healthy comparison (HC) youth. MethodsAdolescent participants, aged 12–17 years, with BD (n = 30) and ADHD (n = 28) and HC adolescents (n = 26) underwent structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while completing a modified Continuous Performance Task-Identical Pairs task. Attentional load was modifying in this task using three levels of image distortion (0 %, 25 % and 50 % image distortion). Task related fMRI activation and performance measures: perceptual sensitivity index (PSI); response bias (RB) and response time (RT); were calculated and compared between groups. ResultsBD participants displayed lower perceptual sensitivity index (0 % p = 0.012; 25 % p = 0.015; 50 % p = 0.036) and higher values of response bias across levels of distortion (0 % p = 0.002, 25 % p = 0.001, and 50 % p = 0.008) as compared to HC. No statistically significant differences were observed for PSI and RB between BD and ADHD groups. No difference in RT were detected. Between-group and within-group differences in task related fMRI measures were detected in several clusters. In a region of interest (ROI) analysis of these clusters comparing BD and ADHD confirmed differences between these two groups. ConclusionsCompared with HC, BD participants displayed SAT deficits. Increased attentional load revealed that BD participants had lower activation in brain regions associated with performance and integration of neural processes in SAT. ROI analysis between BD and ADHD participants shows that the differences were likely not attributable to ADHD comorbidity, suggesting SAT deficits were distinct to the BD group.

Characterizing Attention Resource Capacity in Autism: A Multiple Object Tracking Study

The extant literature aimed at characterizing attentional capability in autistics has presented inconsistent findings. This inconsistency and uncertainty may be the product of different theoretical and methodological approaches used to define attention in autism. In the current study, we investigate whether the allocation of attentional resources to task demands, and attention resource capacity, differs between autistics with no comorbid attention-deficit diagnosis (n = 55) and age-matched neurotypicals (n = 55). We compared differences in capacity and the allocation of resources by manipulating attentional load in a Multiple Object-Tracking (MOT) task, a robust, versatile, and ecological measure of selective, sustained, and distributed attention. While autistics demonstrated lower MOT performance, this difference disappeared when we accounted for fluid reasoning intelligence. Additionally, the similarity in the trend of MOT performance at increasing levels of attentional load between autistics and neurotypicals suggests no differences in the allocation of attentional resources to task demands. Taken together, our study suggests that higher-order cognitive abilities, such as intelligence, should be considered when characterizing attention across the autistic population in research. Similarly, our findings highlight the importance of considering cognitive competence when assessing attentional capabilities in autistic individuals, which could have significant implications for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and support.

The contribution of executive control dysfunction to freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease

ObjectiveAn executive dysfunction is supposed to contribute to freezing of gait (FoG) in Parkinson’s disease. We aimed to investigate at a behavioral and cortical levels whether an attentional load (particularly, a conflicting situation) can specifically impact preparation and execution phases of step initiation in parkinsonian patients with FoG. MethodsFifteen patients with FoG, 16 without and 15 controls performed an adapted version of the Attention Network Test, with step initiation as response instead of the standard manual keypress. Kinetic and kinematic features of gait initiation as well as high-resolution electroencephalography were recorded during the task. ResultsPatients with FoG presented an impaired executive control. Step execution time was longer in parkinsonian patients. However, the executive control effect on step execution time was not different between all groups. Compared to patients, controls showed a shorter step initiation-locked alpha desynchronization, and an earlier, more intense and shorter beta desynchronization over the sensorimotor cortex. Even though controls were faster, the induced alpha and beta activity associated with the effect of executive control didn’t differ between patients and controls. ConclusionsTasks of conflict resolution lead to a comparable alteration of step initiation and its underlying brain activity in all groups. Links between executive control, gait initiation and FoG seem more complex than expected. SignificanceThis study questions the cognitive hypothesis in the pathophysiology of freezing of gait. Executive dysfunction is associated with FoG but is not the main causal mechanism since the interaction between attention and motor preparation didn’t provoke FoG.

Attention Load Regulates the Facilitation of Audio-Visual Information on Landing Perception in Badminton.

Based on the role of the high temporal sensitivity of the auditory modality and the advantage of audio-visual integration in motion perception and anticipation, we investigated the effect of audio-visual information on landing perception in badminton through two experiments; and we explored the regulatory role of attention load. In this study, experienced badminton players were asked to predict the landing position of the shuttle under the conditions of video (visual) or audio-video (audio-visual) presentation. We manipulated flight information or attention load. The results of Experiment 1 showed that, whether the visual information was rich or not, that is, whether or not it contained the early flight trajectory, the addition of auditory information played a promoting role. The results of Experiment 2 showed that attention load regulated the facilitation of multi-modal integration on landing perception. The facilitation of audio-visual information was impaired under high load, meaning that audio-visual integration tended to be guided by attention from top to bottom. The results support the superiority effect of multi-modal integration, suggesting that adding auditory perception training to sports training could significantly improve athletes' performance.

Put you in the problem: Effects of self-pronouns on mathematical problem-solving.

Self-cues such as personal pronouns are known to elicit processing biases, such as attention capture and prioritisation in working memory. This may impact the performance of tasks that have a high attentional load like mathematical problem-solving. Here, we compared the speed and accuracy with which children solved numerical problems that included either the self-cue "you," or a different character name. First, we piloted a self-referencing manipulation with N = 52, 7 to 11 year-olds, testing performance on addition and subtraction problems that had either a single referent ("You"/"Sam") or more than one referent. We took into account operation and positioning of the pronoun and also measured performance on attention and working memory tasks. We found a robust accuracy advantage for problems that included "you," regardless of how many characters were included. The accuracy advantage for problems with a self-pronoun was not statistically associated with individual differences in attention or working memory. In our main study (9 to 11 year-olds, N = 144), we manipulated problem difficulty by creating consistently and inconsistently worded addition and subtraction problems. We found significantly higher speed and accuracy for problems that included "you." However, this effect varied by task difficulty, with the self-pronoun effect being strongest in the most difficult inconsistently worded, subtraction problems. The advantage of problems with a self-pronoun was not associated with individual differences in working memory. These findings suggest that self-cues like the pronoun "you" can be usefully applied in numerical processing tasks, an effect that may be attributable to the effects of self-cues on attention.

Redirected Attention and Impaired Recognition Memory during Exhaustive Cycling Has Implications for Information Processing Models of Effort-Regulation.

Twenty male participants performed two laboratory ramped cycling tests beginning at 50 W and increasing by 0.25 W/s until volitional exhaustion. Ratings of perceived exertion, heart rate and respiratory gas exchange measures were recorded during the first test. During the second test, participants listened to a list of spoken words presented through headphones at a rate of one word every 4 s. Afterwards, their recognition memory for the word pool was measured. Recognition memory performance was found to have strong negative correlations with perceived exertion (p < 0.0001), percentage of peak power output (p < 0.0001), percentage of heart rate reserve (p < 0.0001), and percentage of peak oxygen uptake (p < 0.0001). The results show that, as the physiological and psychophysiological stress of cycling intensified, recognition memory performance deteriorated. This might be due to impairment of memory encoding of the spoken words as they were presented, or because of a diversion of attention away from the headphones, perhaps towards internal physiological sensations as interoceptive sources of attentional load increase with exercise intensity. Information processing models of pacing and performance need to recognise that an athlete's capacity to attend to and process external information is not constant, but changes with exercise intensity.