Attentional Mechanisms in Simple Visual Detection: A Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off Analysis

Autor/inn/en	Liu, Charles C.; Wolfgang, Bradley J.; Smith, Philip L.
Titel	Attentional Mechanisms in Simple Visual Detection: A Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off Analysis
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35 (2009) 5, S.1329-1345 (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0096-1523
DOI	10.1037/a0014255
Schlagwörter	Cues; Visual Perception; Experiments; College Students; Visual Stimuli; Attention; Reaction Time; Cognitive Measurement; Measurement Techniques; Spatial Ability; Foreign Countries; Auditory Stimuli; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Stichwort; Visuelle Wahrnehmung; Erprobung; Collegestudent; Aufmerksamkeit; Reaktionsvermögen; Messtechnik; Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Ausland; Auditive Stimulation; Australien
Abstract	Recent spatial cuing studies have shown that detection sensitivity can be increased by the allocation of attention. This increase has been attributed to one of two mechanisms: signal enhancement or uncertainty reduction. Signal enhancement is an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio at the cued location; uncertainty reduction is a reduction in the uncertainty associated with the location of the target. In displays with low uncertainty, cuing effects are typically found only if targets are backwardly masked. This phenomenon is known as the mask-dependent cuing effect. This effect was investigated in four experiments using the response signal paradigm, which controlled for speed-accuracy tradeoffs. For unmasked targets, cues failed to improve detection accuracy when uncertainty was absent (Experiment 1), but large cuing effects were obtained when uncertainty was present (Experiment 2). For masked targets, stronger cuing effects were obtained with a backward pattern mask (Experiment 3) than with a simultaneous noise mask (Experiment 4). We conclude that the cuing effects in simple detection with well-localized targets are due to a dynamic signal enhancement mechanism. (Contains 4 footnotes and 7 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10