Temporal but not Spatial Expectation Modulates Bottom-Up Attention

Keywords
No Thumbnail Available
Issue Date
2016-08-01
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
In the attentional literature there has been considerable debate about whether bottom-up attentional processes are purely stimulus driven or dependent on top-down sets and goals. One possible top-down factor that might influence bottom-up attentional processing is expectation. In this study we investigate the relationship between bottom-up attention and expectation, specifically asking whether bottom-up attention can be explained by a prediction-error. We hypothesize that unexpected stimuli generate a larger prediction error than expected stimuli, consequently leading to more attentional capture. In two experiments we used an exogenous cueing paradigm to investigate if spatial and temporal expectations about a distracting cue modulate the amount of attentional capture. In the first experiment we investigated the effect of spatial expectation on bottom-up attention, but found no evidence for an interactive relationship. In the second experiment we focused on the temporal predictability of the cue, and found a modulation of bottom-up attention by cue predictability. Specifically, unpredictable cues lead to more attentional capture compared to predictable cues, though only for a specific range of cue-target stimulus onset asynchronies. With these findings, we provide a first direct indication that expectation influences bottom-up attention, although the exact mechanism underlying the modulation is not yet clear. We propose a modulatory account of the interaction between expectation and bottom-up attention, and suggest that bottom-up attention is in principle stimulus driven but can be modulated by expectation if the temporal relationship between the cue and the target is optimal.
Description
Citation
Faculty
Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen