Dynamic pointing triggers shifts of visual attention in young infants

Pointing, like eye gaze, is a deictic gesture that can be used to orient the attention of another person towards an object or an event. Previous research suggests that infants first begin to follow a pointing gesture between 10 and 13 months of age. We investigated whether sensitivity to pointing could be seen at younger ages employing a technique recently used to show early sensitivity to perceived eye gaze. Three experiments were conducted with 4.5- and 6.5-month-old infants. Our first goal was to examine whether these infants could show a systematic response to pointing by shifting their visual attention in the direction of a pointing gesture when we eliminated the difficulty of disengaging fixation from a pointing hand. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 suggest that a dynamic, but not a static, pointing gesture triggers shifts of visual attention in infants as young as 4.5 months of age. Our second goal was to clarify whether this response was based on sensitivity to the directional posture of the pointing hand, the motion of the pointing hand, or both. The results from Experiment 3 suggest that the direction of motion is necessary but not sufficient to orient infants' attention toward a distal target. Infants shifted their attention in the direction of the pointing finger, but only when the hand was moving in the same direction. These results suggest that infants are prepared to orient to the distal referent of a pointing gesture which likely contributes to their learning the communicative function of pointing.     

Feature-based attention to unconscious shapes and colors

Two experiments employed feature-based attention to modulate the impact of completely masked primes on subsequent pointing responses. Participants processed a color cue to select a pair of possible pointing targets out of multiple targets on the basis of their color, and then pointed to the one of those two targets with a prespecified shape. All target pairs were preceded by prime pairs triggering either the correct or the opposite response. The time interval between cue and primes was varied to modulate the time course of feature-based attentional selection. In a second experiment, the roles of color and shape were switched. Pointing trajectories showed large priming effects that were amplified by feature-based attention, indicating that attention modulated the earliest phases of motor output. Priming effects as well as their attentional modulation occurred even though participants remained unable to identify the primes, indicating distinct processes underlying visual awareness, attention, and response control.     

Only your eyes tell me what you like: Exploring the liking effect induced by other's gaze

Our preferences are sensitive to social influences. For instance, we like more the objects that are looked-at by others than non-looked-at objects. Here, we explored this liking effect, using a modified paradigm of attention cueing by gaze. First, we investigated if the liking effect induced by gaze relied on motoric representations of the target object by testing if the liking effect could be observed for non-manipulable (alphanumeric characters) as well as for manipulable items (common tools). We found a significant liking effect for the alphanumeric items. Second, we tested if another type of powerful social cue could also induce a liking effect. We used an equivalent paradigm but with pointing hands instead of gaze cues. Pointing hands elicited a robust attention-orienting effect, but they did not induce any significant liking effect. This study extends previous findings and reinforces the view of eye gaze as a special cue in human interactions.     

记忆集对注意焦点转换及其返回抑制的影响

采用记忆更新任务,实验1要求被试分别更新3个和4个记忆项目,并设置不转换、控制转换和抑制转换条件,考察记忆集对注意焦点转换及其返回抑制的影响;实验2操纵两次更新同一记忆项目之间对其它记忆项目更新的次数（2次、3次及3次以上）,在实验1基础上,考察返回抑制中项目抑制状态的消退过程.结论：随记忆集增加,转换代价增大,而返回抑制效应消失;当注意焦点对其它记忆项目更新2次时,之前被抑制项目的抑制状态可完全消退.     

Visual attention amplifies response priming of pointing movements to color targets

We studied the influence of spatial visual attention on the time course of primed pointing movements. We measured pointing responses to color targets preceded by color stimuli priming either the same response as the target or the opposite response. The effects of visual attention at the prime and target locations were studied by varying both the cue-prime and prime-target intervals when presenting either exogenous attentional cues or, in a separate experiment, endogenous cues whose processing was a precondition for performing the task. Pointing trajectories revealed large priming effects in which pointing responses were first controlled by prime signals and then captured in midflight by target signals. Priming effects were strongly amplified when the relevant prime locations were visually attended at optimal cue-prime SOAs, with attention modulating the entire time course of the primed pointing movements. We propose that visual attention amplifies the earliest waves of visuomotor feedforward information, elicited in turn by primes and by targets.     

Focusing attention on overlapping and non-overlapping figures with subjective contours

In a series of five experiments we investigated whether observers could focus attention on a restricted visual area that was demarcated by Kanizsa-like subjective contours, and whether this effect also occurred in the case of overlapping figures. The task was a simple reaction time to a luminance increment and the basic finding was that reaction time was faster when the imperative stimulus fell inside the focus of attention than when it fell outside. The first two experiments showed that the extent of the attentional focus could be adapted to a region that was demarcated by subjective contours, thus extending the results of previous studies that used regions demarcated by real contours. The last three experiments showed that, regardless of the type of margins, focusing was more efficient for the figure that was perceived as lying in front in a pair of overlapping figures. Received: 21 December 1999  / Accepted: 23 August 2000     

Are you with me? Probing the human capacity to recognize external/internal attention in others’ faces

ABSTRACT

Facial cues provide information about affective states and the direction of attention that is important for human social interaction. The present study examined how this capacity extends to judging whether attention is internally or externally directed. Participants evaluated a set of videos and images showing the face of people focused externally on a task, or internally while they performed a task in imagination. We found that participants could identify the focus of attention above chance in videos, and to a lesser degree in static images, but only when the eye region was visible. Self-reports further indicated that participants relied particularly on the eye region in their judgements. Interestingly, people engaged in demanding cognitive tasks were more likely judged to be externally focused independent of the actual focus of attention. These findings demonstrate that humans use information from the face and especially from the eyes of others not only to infer external goals or actions, but also to detect when others focus internally on their own thoughts and feelings.     

Focusing attention on circular pedaling reduces movement economy in cycling

Previous research has shown that focus of attention affects movement economy in endurance tasks. This experimental study was designed to take a closer look at how focusing attention on special characteristics of endurance cycling actions can influence metabolic energy costs. Twenty-five trained cyclists completed 4 × 6 min time trials at submaximal intensity on a cycling ergometer. For each of the four time trials, they were instructed to adopt a different focus of attention: (1) circular pedaling, (2) force production of quad muscles, (3) head position, (4) stimuli in a cycling video. The order of conditions was counterbalanced. The main dependent measure was movement economy (i.e., oxygen consumption at a given workload). The results show that a focus on the circular pedaling action leads to reduced economy than a focus on the video (p = 0.001). Focusing on smooth and circular pedaling includes a continuous monitoring of the cycling action, which could disturb the rhythmical nature of movement execution, thereby leading to detriments in movement economy.     

Visual attention and word recognition in stroop color naming: is word recognition "automatic"?

In Stroop color naming, color targets were accompanied by a color word or a color word plus a neutral word that reduces or "dilutes" the Stroop effect. Abrupt-onset cues called the focus of attention to one stimulus or another. Cuing influenced the size of the Stroop effect but never eliminated it. Unlike the Stroop effect itself, Stroop dilution from the neutral word could be eliminated, by cuing the color word. Focusing visual attention on the color word protected it from Stroop dilution; focusing visual attention on the neutral word did not prevent Stroop interference. Thus, spatial attention is a modulator, protecting visual data from crosstalk, but a word need not be the focus of visual attention to be recognized.     

Effects of gesture and target on 12- and 18-month-olds' joint visual attention to objects in front of or behind them

Factors affecting joint visual attention in 12- and 18-month-olds were investigated. In Experiment 1 infants responded to 1 of 3 parental gestures: looking, looking and pointing, or looking, pointing, and verbalizing. Target objects were either identical to or distinctive from distractor objects. Targets were in front of or behind the infant to test G. E. Butterworth's (1991b) hypothesis that 12-month-olds do not follow gaze to objects behind them. Pointing elicited more episodes of joint visual attention than looking alone. Distinctive targets elicited more episodes of joint visual attention than identical targets. Although infants most reliably followed gestures to targets in front of them, even 12-month-olds followed gestures to targets behind them. In Experiment 2 parents were rotated so that the magnitude of their head turns to fixate front and back targets was equivalent. Infants looked more at front than at back targets, but there was also an effect of magnitude of head turn. Infants' relative neglect of back targets is partly due to the "size" of adult's gesture.     

面孔部件在群体注意方向判断中的作用

探讨面孔部件(眼睛和鼻子)在个体和群体注意方向判断中的作用。实验1使用不同数量面孔的图片,要求报告群体或个体的注意方向。结果发现,多面孔条件下对群体注意方向估计的准确性高于单面孔条件。实验2采用眼动技术,探讨眼睛和鼻子在判断其注意方向时注视的空间与时间分布特征。结果发现,基于单张面孔判断时,对鼻子的总注视时间长于眼睛;基于多张面孔判断时,对眼睛和鼻子的总注视时间没有差异。整个研究表明,知觉个体注意主要依赖鼻子,知觉群体注意依赖眼睛和鼻子。     

Cultural variation in the use of current life satisfaction to predict the future

Three studies examined cultural and situational influences on the tendency for people to use their current life satisfaction to predict future life events. On the basis of the self-enhancement literature, it was predicted that either writing about a positive personal experience or reading about another's negative experience would lead European Americans to focus their attention on internal attributes and thus would lead them to use their current life satisfaction in predicting the future. Conversely, on the basis of the self-criticism literature, it was predicted that these same conditions would lead Asian Americans to focus their attention on external factors and, therefore, would decrease their likelihood of using their current life satisfaction to predict the future. Studies 1 and 2 supported these hypotheses. Study 3 showed that these patterns could be obtained by subliminally priming concepts associated with individualism and collectivism.     

Different patterns of contingent stimulation differentially affect attention span in prelinguistic infants

The ability to sustain attention influences different domains including cognitive, motor, and communicative behavior. Previous research has demonstrated how an infant's parent can influence sustained attention. The purpose of our study was to expose infants systematically to both sensitive and redirective patterns of behavior to examine how unfamiliar individuals could influence attention. Results revealed infants changed their patterns of looking with the unfamiliar individuals. Infants had longer durations of sustained attention when interacting with a sensitive unfamiliar individual who followed into their attentional focus as opposed to an intrusive person who led their attentional focus. This study demonstrates that infants discriminate patterns of contingency to persons seen for only a short period of time broadening the range of potential mentors for learning.     

Attention focus and self-touch in toddlers: The moderating effect of attachment security

The superior self-regulation and attention-regulation abilities of securely attached children have been repeatedly demonstrated. However, the mechanisms that allow securely attached children to exhibit higher levels of attention focus than insecurely attached (anxious-ambivalent and anxious-avoidant) children need to be explored. One possible mechanism that has been hypothesized to play a role in focusing attention is self-touch. Previous research has shown that 10-year-old children exhibit more bilateral self-touch (i.e., both hands are simultaneously moving onto each other or on the body, and both hands are in contact with each other or with the body), but not lateral self-touch (i.e., one hand is moving on the other hand or on the body, and the hand is in contact with the other hand or with the body), when they focus attention on a task. Because bilateral coordination is still developing during childhood, we expected that lateral self-touch, instead of bilateral self-touch, may be associated with attention focus for toddlers. The objectives of the present study were to examine whether securely attached toddlers exhibit more self-touch, particularly lateral self-touch, while they focus on a task than while they do not focus on a task. We expected to find that the association between lateral self-touch and attention focus is not as strong for insecurely attached toddlers. Data from forty-nine mother-child dyads were employed for analyses. The attachment classification of the children was determined using the Strange Situation. The duration of attention focus and self-touch behavior during a reading task were coded. An association between lateral self-touch and attention focus was found for children of all attachment classifications. This association was particularly strong for securely attached children. We discuss the possibility that securely attached toddlers may use lateral self-touch to regulate attention.     

Investigating the Constrained Action Hypothesis: A Movement Coordination and Coordination Variability Approach

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of focus of attention cues on movement coordination and coordination variability in the lower extremity. Twenty participants performed the standing long jump under both internal and external focus of attention conditions. A modified vector coding technique was used to evaluate the influence of attentional focus cues on lower extremity coordination patterns and coordination variability during the jumps. Participants jumped significantly further under an external focus of attention condition compared with an internal focus of attention condition (p = .035, effect size = .29). Focus of attention also influenced coordination between the ankle and knee, F(6, 19) = 2.87, p = .012, effect size = .388, with participants primarily using their knees under the internal focus of attention, and using both their ankles and knees under the external focus of attention. Attentional focus cues did not influence ankle-knee, F(1, 19) = 0.02, p = .98, effect size = .02, or hip-knee, F(1, 19) = 5.00, p = .49, effect size = .16, coordination variability. Results suggest that while attentional focus may not directly influence movement coordination condition, there is still a change in movement strategy resulting in greater jump distances following an external focus of attention.     

Meditation-specific prefrontal cortical activation during acem meditation: an fMRI study

Some of the most popular meditation practices emphasize a relaxed focus of attention in which thoughts, images, sensations, and emotions may emerge and pass freely without actively controlling or pursuing them. Several recent studies show that meditation activates frontal brain areas associated with attention focusing and physical relaxation. The objective of the present study was to assess whether brain activation during relaxed focusing on a meditation sound could be distinguished from similar, concentrative control tasks. Brain activation was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in experienced practitioners of Acem meditation. Bilateral areas of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA47) were significantly more activated during repetition of a meditation sound than during concentrative meditation-like cognitive tasks. Meditation-specific brain activation did not habituate over time, but increased in strength with continuous meditation bouts. These observations suggest that meditation with a relaxed focus of attention may activate distinct areas of the prefrontal cortex, with implications for the understanding of neurobiological correlates of meditation.     

Adaptation of Reactive Saccades is Influenced by Unconscious Priming of the Attention Focus

The authors investigated whether the size of the attention focus can influence saccadic adaptation, and whether this influence changes in older age. Using the scrambled sentence task, young and older participants were either primed for a wide attention focus, or primed of a narrow attention focus, or were not primed for any specific attention focus. Subsequently, all participants underwent a double-step saccadic adaptation paradigm aimed at changing the direction of reflexive saccades. The authors found that compared to the nonprimed control group, priming for a wide attention focus enhanced saccadic adaptation in both age groups by a similar amount; the benefit persisted throughout the adaptation phase, but was absent during the deadaptation phase. In contrast, the authors found no effects of priming with a narrow attention focus on saccadic adaptation. From this the authors conclude that a wide attention focus is beneficial for workaround strategies but not for adaptive recalibration, and that those benefits are similar in young and older persons.     

Neuromuscular effects of shifting the focus of attention in a simple force production task

Research on the focus of attention has begun exploring the physiological changes that underlie the difference between internal and external foci of attention. However, previous electromyography studies have used dynamic tasks, making it difficult to interpret electrophysiological data. The authors analyzed how the focus of attention affects a subject's ability to perform an isometric force production task (focus was directed either at the force platform or the muscles responsible for force production). Subjects received practice without attentional focus instructions and then completed blocks of trials with an external and internal attentional focus separately. An external focus led to significantly less error overall and reduced surface electromyography activity with lower median power frequencies in the antagonist muscle, but attentional focus had no effects on the agonist muscle. Thus, an external focus of attention led to more efficient motor unit recruitment patterns (reduced cocontraction) and improved performance. Posttest surveys revealed subjects were aware of their improved performance with an external focus.     

Thinking about muscles: the neuromuscular effects of attentional focus on accuracy and fatigue

Although the effects of attention on movement execution are well documented behaviorally, much less research has been done on the neurophysiological changes that underlie attentional focus effects. This study presents two experiments exploring effects of attention during an isometric plantar-flexion task using surface electromyography (sEMG). Participants' attention was directed either externally (towards the force plate they were pushing against) or internally (towards their own leg, specifically the agonist muscle). Experiment 1 tested the effects of attention on accuracy and efficiency of force produced at three target forces (30, 60, and 100% of the maximum voluntary contraction; MVC). An internal focus of attention reduced the accuracy of force being produced and increased cocontraction of the antagonist muscle. Error on a given trial was positively correlated with the magnitude of cocontraction on that trial. Experiment 2 tested the effects of attention on muscular fatigue at 30, 60 and 100%MVC. An internal focus of attention led to less efficient intermuscular coordination, especially early in the contraction. These results suggest that an internal focus of attention disrupts efficient motor control in force production resulting in increased cocontraction, which potentially explains other neuromechanical findings (e.g. reduced functional variability with an internal focus).     

The automaticity of complex motor skill learning as a function of attentional focus

The present experiment was designed to test the predictions of the constrained-action hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that when performers utilize an internal focus of attention (focus on their movements) they may actually constrain or interfere with automatic control processes that would normally regulate the movement, whereas an external focus of attention (focus on the movement effect) allows the motor system to more naturally self-organize. To test this hypothesis, a dynamic balance task (stabilometer) was used with participants instructed to adopt either an internal or external focus of attention. Consistent with earlier experiments, the external focus group produced generally smaller balance errors than did the internal focus group and responded at a higher frequency indicating higher confluence between voluntary and reflexive mechanisms. In addition, probe reaction times (RTs) were taken as a measure of the attention demands required under the two attentional focus conditions. Consistent with the hypothesis, the external focus participants demonstrated lower probe RTs than did the internal focus participants, indicating a higher degree of automaticity and less conscious interference in the control processes associated with the balance task.