Abstract
Visuospatial attention is strongly biased to locations that had frequently contained a search target before. However, the function of this bias depends on the reference frame in which attended locations are coded. Previous research has shown a striking difference between tasks administered on a computer monitor and those administered in a large environment, with the former inducing viewer-centered learning and the latter environment-centered learning. Why does environment-centered learning fail on a computer? Here, we tested 3 possibilities: differences in spatial scale, the nature of task, and locomotion may each influence the reference frame of attention. Participants searched for a target on a monitor placed flat on a stand. On each trial, they stood at a different location around the monitor. The target was frequently located in a fixed area of the monitor, but changes in participants' perspective rendered this area random relative to the participants. Under incidental learning conditions, participants failed to acquire environment-centered learning even when (a) the task and display resembled those of a large-scale task and (b) the search task required locomotion. The difficulty in inducing environment-centered learning on a computer underscores the egocentric nature of visual attention. It supports the idea that spatial scale modulates the reference frame of attention.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 866-878 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Implicit learning
- Spatial attention
- Spatial reference frame
- Visual statistical learning