Search

Understanding how sensory processing demands affect the ability to ignore task‐irrelevant, loud auditory stimuli (LAS) during a task is key to performance in dynamic environments. For example, tennis players must ignore crowd noise to perform optimally. We investigated how practice affects this ability by examining the effects of delivering LASs during preparatory phase of an anticipatory timing (AT) task on the voluntary and reflexive responses in two conditions: lower and higher visual processing loads. Twenty‐four participants (mean age = 23.1, 11 females) completed the experiment. The AT task involved synchronizing a finger abduction response with the last visual stimulus item in a sequence of four Gabor grating patches briefly flashed on screen. The lower demand condition involved only this task, and the higher demand condition required processing the orientations of the patches to report changes in the final stimulus item. Our results showed that higher visual processing demands affected the release of voluntary actions, particularly in the first block of trials. When the perceptual load was lower, responses were released earlier by the LAS compared to the high‐load condition. Practice reduced these effects largely, but high perceptual load still led to earlier action release in the second block. In contrast, practice led to more apparent facilitation of eyeblink latency in the second block. These findings indicate that a simple perceptual load manipulation can impact the execution of voluntary motor actions, particularly for inexperienced participants. They also suggest distinct movement preparation influences on voluntary and involuntary actions triggered by acoustic stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies suggest that attentional bias towards emotional distractors depends on a task's perceptual load. The specifics of the interaction of perceptual load in the context of conscious perception and the role of personality traits (i.e., anxiety and impulsivity) in this interaction have not been thoroughly explored. In the present study, we aimed to identify how personality traits affect the allocation of attention to irrelevant angry and happy emotional face stimuli under different attention conditions, which may affect perception. Participants performed a letter-search task, in which they searched for a target (X or N) in a low (circular non-target letters) or high (angular non-target letters) perceptual load condition in the presence of irrelevant emotional faces (happy or angry). Furthermore, in 25% of trials, a meaningless squiggle was presented in the periphery, and participants were required to detect the squiggle. The conscious perception of the squiggle was calculated using the d prime. We measured trait impulsivity with the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour scale and trait anxiety with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results showed that in highly impulsive participants, irrelevant angry faces presented during the high load condition significantly reduced their sensitivity to detecting the squiggle, compared with happy and neutral faces. The findings have theoretical implications for our understanding of the role of personality traits in the interaction between attention and emotions in shaping conscious perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the real world, we often fail to notice changes in our environment. In some cases, such as not noticing a car moving into our lane, the results can be catastrophic. This so-called change blindness has been seen experimentally both through failing to notice changes to images on-screen as well as failing to notice a change in other people's identity. However, less is known regarding how change blindness manifests in virtual settings varying in visual clutter or with varying types of interaction with someone prior to the change. Across two studies (n = 134), participants engaged in an online video chat with a confederate, with two levels of visual clutter (none, a lot) and three levels of interaction (none, light conversations about weather/TV, deeper conversations about goals/greatest regrets). We found no modulation of change blindness rates across perceptual clutter. Curiously, we found a large discrepancy in change blindness rates in Experiment 1 (79%; 52/66) versus Experiment 2 (16%; 11/68) that we explored, leading to some evidence that increasing the level of interaction led to greater change blindness rates, but only for pairs who identified as belonging to different ethnicities. Taken together, our work suggests that we may pay attention to people differently in virtual settings compared to in-person, that in-group and out-group biases may have an effect on change blindness rates, and that while clutter does not seem to affect change blindness rates, one's level of interaction just might. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the effects of different perceptual and cognitive information processing stages on mental workload by assessing multimodal indicators of mental workload such as the NASA-TLX, task performance, ERPs and eye movements. Repeated measures ANOVA of the data showed that among ERP indicators, P1, N1 and N2 amplitudes were sensitive to perceptual load (P-load), P3 amplitude was sensitive to P-load only in the prefrontal region during high cognitive load (C-load) states, and P3 amplitude in the occipital and parietal regions was sensitive to C-load. Among the eye movement indicators, blink frequency was sensitive to P-load in all C-load states, but to C-load in only low P-load states; pupil diameter and blink duration were sensitive to both P-load and C-load. Based on the above indicators, the k-nearest neighbours (KNN) algorithm was used to propose a classification method for the four different mental workload states with an accuracy of 97.89%. Practitioner summary: Based on the results of this study, it is possible to implement the monitoring of mental workload states and optimise brain task allocation in operations involving high mental workload, such as human-computer interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual perception is a critical factor in mathematical performance. The current study investigated whether form-perception speed underlies the association between visual perception capability and mathematical performance. Visual form perception tasks having different perceptual loads were administered to 162 adults in Experiment 1 and 273 children in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 showed that adult's visual perception capability correlated with mathematical performance, even after controlling for age, gender, nonverbal matrix reasoning, choice reaction time, and mental rotational ability. However, only the correlation modulated by processing speed—and only visual perceptions with lower perceptual loads— predicted the variance of mathematical performance for adults mathematical performance. The findings in children corresponded to those in adults. Thus, form-perception speed modulates the association between visual perception capability and mathematical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing what one knows and accurately monitoring one's own capacities and performance on a moment-to-moment basis are important determinants of task success. Individual differences in such metacognitive monitoring are well documented, but what determines an individual's monitoring accuracy in a particular context is yet to be fully understood. One candidate contributor to monitoring accuracy is working memory. In this study, we investigated whether and how working memory contributes to the accuracy of monitoring processes. Most evidence for a positive relationship between working memory and monitoring accuracy has been provided by correlational studies. Here, an experimental approach was applied in which confidence judgments were collected after each memory recall in three working memory experiments, and the effect of increasing the working memory demands on monitoring accuracy was examined. A visuospatial complex span task, a verbal complex span task, and an updating task served as the working memory tasks, to cover the range of methods used in working memory research. Confirmatory analyses conducted using cumulative link mixed models indicated that in two out of three experiments, monitoring accuracy suffered when working memory demands increased. As such, the weight of evidence supports a dependent relationship between working memory and monitoring processes, whereby monitoring accuracy can fluctuate during a task depending on the available cognitive resources. This indicates that the sensitivity of metacognitive monitoring is at least partly determined by the nature of the cognitive processing taking place in the primary task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Highly-automated technologies are increasingly incorporated into existing systems, for instance in advanced car models. Although highly automated modes permit non-driving activities (e.g. internet browsing), drivers are expected to reassume control upon a ‘take over’ signal from the automation. To assess a person’s readiness for takeover, non-invasive eye tracking can indicate their attentive state based on properties of their gaze. Perceptual load is a well-established determinant of attention and perception, however, the effects of perceptual load on a person’s ability to respond to a takeover signal and the related gaze indicators are not yet known. Here we examined how load-induced attentional state affects detection of a takeover-signal proxy, as well as the gaze properties that change with attentional state, in an ongoing task with no overt behaviour beyond eye movements (responding by lingering the gaze). Participants performed a multi-target visual search of either low perceptual load (shape targets) or high perceptual load (targets were two separate conjunctions of colour and shape), while also detecting occasional auditory tones (the proxy takeover signal). Across two experiments, we found that high perceptual load was associated with poorer search performance, slower detection of cross-modal stimuli, and longer fixation durations, while saccade amplitude did not consistently change with load. Using machine learning, we were able to predict the load condition from fixation duration alone. These results suggest monitoring fixation duration may be useful in the design of systems to track users’ attentional states and predict impaired user responses to stimuli outside of the focus of attention.

People often report being distracted during their visual tasks, such as monitoring the road ahead, by task-irrelevant sounds, for example, a baby crying on the backseat. When we first tried to study the effect of auditory distraction on visual-search performance in the laboratory using the highly sensitive additional-singleton paradigm – to our surprise – several types of auditory distractors reliably failed to cause any substantial interference. We explained these findings with a powerful attentional filtering mechanism that can shield visual search from interference by irrelevant sounds. In the present study, we examine conditions under which this mechanism might break down as suggested by insights from research on auditory distraction. It has been shown that whether an auditory distractor causes interference often hinges on the difficulty of the employed task. However, across three levels of search-task difficulty, we here reliably replicate the pattern we had observed before: At each difficulty level of Experiment 1, an unpredictably presented auditory distractor was processed to some extent (as indicated by an effect on the speed-accuracy tradeoff) but did not interfere with overall search performance. The same distractor reliably impeded search performance when the attentional shielding mechanism was experimentally disabled by a secondary task in Experiment 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are various kinds of information present in the environment, due to which it affects an individual's ability to accurately detect and distinguish information. Therefore, the current study aims at understanding the effect of perceptual load (high load and low load) and music (tempo) on decision making (i.e., during a conjunction search task). 62 participants were recruited for the experiment and the responses were collected through Open Sesame. The participants were asked to report whether a red circle is present or absent, while listening to music. Two-way Anova, one-way Anova and student's t-test were employed. The results indicate that perceptual load does not have a significant effect on the accuracy of responses. However, tempo of the music has a significant effect on the accuracy of responses (pes=0.08), in a conjunction search task. There is a significant difference between the proportion of hits and correct rejections, across different perceptual and tempo conditions. Students and workers listen to various kinds of music during their task involving varying levels of difficulty and perceptual systems. The perception during this process can either be facilitated or hindered with. Various studies have investigated upon the influence of music (i.e., classical, jazz, pop) but only few have focused upon Bollywood music with varying tempo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mind wandering (MW) has been associated with reduced responsiveness to external stimuli ("perceptual decoupling"). Conversely, increased perceptual demands of a task result in reduced MW. Here we propose a neurobiological account attributing the mutually-limiting relationship of MW and perception to brain-wide limits on cerebral metabolism. Since overall cerebral metabolism is known to remain constant, despite increased mental task demands, we tested whether increased perceptual processing load in a visual task will result in reduced oxygen metabolism in MW-related medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regions. Methods: We used broadband near-infrared spectroscopy to measure oxidation states of the cytochrome-c-oxidase enzyme (oxCCO), an intracellular marker of metabolism, in mPFC while sampling participants' MW experiences during their performance of a visual task of either low (feature search) or high(conjunction search) perceptual load. Results: Increased perceptual load in the task resulted in reduced oxCCO signal in mPFC regions related to MW reports. High perceptual load was also found to specifically suppress detailed (and hence more metabolism-demanding) rather than vague MW. Discussion: Overall, the results support a shared metabolism account of the relationship between MW and perception and demonstrate that attentional-regulation of metabolism only supports ongoing detailed MW when perceptual processing demands are low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test anxiety theory is believed to increase distraction from task-irrelevant stimuli. However, it is unclear whether the test-anxious individuals will show distraction to the peripheral distractor. Load theory suggested that perceptual and cognitive loads could manipulate attentional demands during distractor processing. Besides, how increasing the perceptual and cognitive load will affect the distraction in test anxiety remains explored. The present research aimed to test these issues by combining the eye-tracking technique and letter discrimination task with varying types of the peripheral distractor in high-test anxious (HTA) vs. low-test anxious (LTA) individuals. Experiment 1 manipulated the perceptual load by adjusting the difficulty of the task, and Experiment 2 increased cognitive load by adding a backward counting task based on the procedure of Experiment 1. Consequently, HTA individuals had longer response times (RTs) in the test-related distractor condition than in the non-distractor condition of fast-response trials in both experiments, suggesting that the HTA group showed distraction to the test-related distractor within fast-response trials. Besides, the HTA group had fewer fixations than low test-anxious (LTA) individuals in Experiment 1, suggesting that the HTA group may keep hypervigilance by maintaining a broad distribution of attention. These results support that distraction in test anxiety is associated with unspecific hypervigilance and specific inhibition deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have shown that deaf individuals distribute more attention to the peripheral visual field and exhibit enhanced visual processing for peripheral stimuli relative to hearing individuals. This leads to better detection of peripheral target motion and simple static stimuli in hearing individuals. However, when threatening faces that represent dangerous signals appear as non-targets in the periphery, it remains unclear whether deaf individuals would retain an advantage over hearing individuals in detecting them. Methods: In this study, 23 deaf and 28 hearing college students were included. A modified perceptual load paradigm and event-related potentials (ERPs) were adopted. In the task, participants were instructed to search for a target letter in a central letter array, while task-irrelevant face distractors (happy, neutral, and angry faces) were simultaneously presented in the periphery while the central perceptual load was manipulated. Results: Behavioral data showed that angry faces slowed deaf participants' responses to the target while facilitating the responses of hearing participants. At the electrophysiological level, we found modulation of P1 amplitude by central load only in hearing individuals. Interestingly, larger interference from angry face distractors was associated with higher P1 di_erential amplitude only in deaf individuals. Additionally, the amplitude of N170 for happy face distractors was smaller than that for angry and neutral face distractors in deaf participants. Conclusion: The present data demonstrates that, despite being under central perceptual load, deaf individuals exhibit less attentional inhibition to peripheral, goal-irrelevant angry faces than hearing individuals. The result may reflect a compensatory mechanism in which, in the absence of auditory alertness to danger, the detection of visually threatening information outside of the current attentional focus has a high priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly-automated technologies are increasingly incorporated into existing systems, for instance in advanced car models. Although highly automated modes permit non-driving activities (e.g. internet browsing), drivers are expected to reassume control upon a 'take over' signal from the automation. To assess a person's readiness for takeover, non-invasive eye tracking can indicate their attentive state based on properties of their gaze. Perceptual load is a well-established determinant of attention and perception, however, the effects of perceptual load on a person's ability to respond to a takeover signal and the related gaze indicators are not yet known. Here we examined how load-induced attentional state affects detection of a takeover-signal proxy, as well as the gaze properties that change with attentional state, in an ongoing task with no overt behaviour beyond eye movements (responding by lingering the gaze). Participants performed a multi-target visual search of either low perceptual load (shape targets) or high perceptual load (targets were two separate conjunctions of colour and shape), while also detecting occasional auditory tones (the proxy takeover signal). Across two experiments, we found that high perceptual load was associated with poorer search performance, slower detection of cross-modal stimuli, and longer fixation durations, while saccade amplitude did not consistently change with load. Using machine learning, we were able to predict the load condition from fixation duration alone. These results suggest monitoring fixation duration may be useful in the design of systems to track users' attentional states and predict impaired user responses to stimuli outside of the focus of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inconsistent observations of pupillary response and blink change in response to different specific tasks raise questions regarding the relationship between eye measures, task types and working memory (WM) models. On the one hand, studies have provided mixed evidence from eye measures about tasks: pupil size has mostly been reported to increase with increasing task demand while this expected change was not observed in some studies, and blink rate has exhibited different trends in different tasks. On the other hand, a WM model has been developed to integrate a component to reconcile recent findings that the human motor system plays an important role in cognition and learning. However, how different tasks correlate with WM components has not been experimentally examined using eye activity measurements. Aims: The current study uses a four‐dimensional task load framework to bridge eye measures, task types and WM models. Sample: Twenty participants (10 males, 10 females; Age: M = 25.8, SD = 7.17) above 18 years old volunteered. All participants had normal or corrected to normal vision with contact lenses and had no eye diseases causing obvious excessive blinking. Methods: We examined the ability of pupil size and blink rate to index low and high levels of cognitive, perceptual, physical and communicative task load. A network of the four load types and WM components was built and analysed to verify the necessity of integrating a physical task‐related component into the WM model. Results: Results demonstrate that pupil size can index cognitive load and communicative load but not perceptual or physical load. Blink rate can index the level of cognitive load but is best at discriminating perceptual tasks from other types of tasks. Furthermore, pupil size measurement of the four task types was explained better during structural and factor analysis by a WM model that integrates a movement‐related component. Conclusions: This research provides new insights into the relationship between eye measures, task type and WM models and provides a comprehensive understanding from which to predict pupil size and blink behaviours in more complex and practical tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the eye region has been found to convey sufficient information for emotional recognition and interpersonal communication, little is known regarding the extent to which the prioritized processing of emotional eye regions relies on available attentional resources. To address this issue, the present study used a dual-target rapid serial visual presentation task in which the perceptual load levels of the first target (T1), as well as the valence of the second target (T2), were manipulated. In addition to the traditional event-related potential (ERP) analysis method, the mass univariate statistics approach was employed. Behaviorally, both happy and fearful eye regions were recognized more accurately than neutral eye regions, regardless of the T1 perceptual load. ERP findings revealed an enhanced N170 amplitude for fearful eye regions compared to neutral eye regions, confirming the preferential and automatic processing of fearful signals at the early sensory stage. The late positive potential component exhibited enhanced responses to fearful and happy eye regions, suggesting the amplified representation consolidation in working memory. Collectively, these findings indicate that isolated eye regions are processed automatically to a higher degree owing to their perceptual and motivational significance. • The processing of emotional eye regions is independent of perceptual load. • Fearful eye regions are processed automatically and preferentially. • N170 and LPP components are modulated by emotional valence of eye region. • Human brain is highly sensitive to emotional signals projected from eye region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the mechanisms of target enhancement and distractor suppression have been investigated along the visual processing hierarchy, there remains some unknown as to the role of perceptual load on the competition between different task-related information as attention deployment is manipulated. We present an fMRI spatial cueing paradigm, in which 32 participants had to attend to either a left or a right hemifield location and to indicate the orientation of the target Gabor that was presented simultaneously to a noise patch distractor. Critically, the target could appear at either the cued, valid location or at the uncued, invalid location; in the latter, the noise patch distractor appeared at the cued location. Perceptual load was manipulated by the presence or absence of high-contrast Gabor patches close to the fixation cross, which acted as lateral masks. Behavioural results indicated that participants performed more efficiently in validly cued trials compared to invalidly cued trials and under low compared to high load. Enhancement effects for targets and suppression effects for noise patches were greater in early visual areas at high load, that is in the presence of lateral masks. These results are in line with the hypothesis that attention results in both target enhancement and distractor suppression, and that these effects are most marked under high perceptual load. Theoretical implications of these results for different models of attention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A high perceptual load can effectively prevent attention from being drawn to irrelevant stimuli; however, the neural pattern underlying this process remains unclear. Methods: This study adopted a perceptual load paradigm to examine the temporal processes of attentional modulation by incorporating conditions of perceptual load, distractor‐target compatibility, and eccentricity. Results: The behavioral results showed that a high perceptual load significantly reduced attentional distraction caused by peripheral distractors. The event‐related potential results further revealed that shorter P2 latencies were observed for peripheral distractors than for central distractors under a high perceptual load and that a suppressed compatibility effect with increasing load was reflected by the P3 component. Conclusion: These findings suggested that (1) P2 and P3 components effectively captured different sides of attentional processing modulated by load (i.e., the filter processing of the object and the overall attentional resource allocation) and (2) response patterns of selective attention modulated by perceptual load were influenced by eccentricity. Our electrophysiological evidence confirmed the behavioral findings, indicating the neural mechanisms of attentional modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study represents an application of perceptual load theory to the real-world internet users' behavior and contributes to the dispute whether banner blindness – a tendency to ignore the banners on web pages – is a special case of inattentional blindness or a separate phenomenon. Perceptual load theory claims that processing of task-irrelevant information can be predicted by the level of perceptual load: the subjects in a high load condition are more likely to ignore the distractors, while with a low load, task-irrelevant information is processed. In four experiments, participants were divided into low and high load groups and asked to find items on a shopping website. In the critical trial, an advertising banner appeared. No significant effect of perceptual load on banner blindness was found. Banner blindness seems to be a result of attentional filters adjustment that adapts to the abundance of information on the web pages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Load Theory states that perceptual load prevents, or at least reduces, the processing of task-unrelated stimuli. This study systematically examined the detection and neural processing of auditory stimuli unrelated to a visual foreground task. The visual task was designed to create continuous perceptual load, alternated between low and high load, and contained performance feedback to motivate participants to focus on the visual task instead of the auditory stimuli presented in the background. The auditory stimuli varied in intensity, and participants signaled their subjective perception of these stimuli without receiving feedback. Depending on stimulus intensity, we observed load effects on detection performance and P3 amplitudes of the event-related potential (ERP). N1 amplitudes were unaffected by perceptual load, as tested by Bayesian statistics. Findings suggest that visual perceptual load affects the processing of auditory stimuli in a late time window, which is associated with a lower probability of reported awareness of these stimuli.

Abstract Introduction A high perceptual load can effectively prevent attention from being drawn to irrelevant stimuli; however, the neural pattern underlying this process remains unclear. Methods This study adopted a perceptual load paradigm to examine the temporal processes of attentional modulation by incorporating conditions of perceptual load, distractor‐target compatibility, and eccentricity. Results The behavioral results showed that a high perceptual load significantly reduced attentional distraction caused by peripheral distractors. The event‐related potential results further revealed that shorter P2 latencies were observed for peripheral distractors than for central distractors under a high perceptual load and that a suppressed compatibility effect with increasing load was reflected by the P3 component. Conclusion These findings suggested that (1) P2 and P3 components effectively captured different sides of attentional processing modulated by load (i.e., the filter processing of the object and the overall attentional resource allocation) and (2) response patterns of selective attention modulated by perceptual load were influenced by eccentricity. Our electrophysiological evidence confirmed the behavioral findings, indicating the neural mechanisms of attentional modulation.

The effects of video game experience on cognitive functioning have been extensively studied; however, differences in inhibitory control between different types of video game players at high and low perceptual loads have yet to be explored. This study aimed to examine the inhibitory control of two types of video game players using distracting stimuli with different perceptual loads. Therefore, 35 action video game (ACT) players and 35 strategy video game (STG) players were recruited via a video game questionnaire and were studied using flanker tasks with different perceptual loads. The results showed that ACT players could attend to the distribution of distracting stimuli and inhibit them better than STG players could. Furthermore, players with ACT game experience obtained better task performance when the perceptual load was high. The current findings highlight the relevance of inhibitory control in high perceptual load conditions to the game genre and discuss the reasons for this phenomenon.

We receive information about the world around us from multiple senses which combine in a process known as multisensory integration. Multisensory integration has been shown to be dependent on attention; however, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. The current study investigates whether changes in sensory noise explain the effect of attention on multisensory integration and whether attentional modulations to multisensory integration occur via modality-specific mechanisms. A task based on the McGurk Illusion was used to measure multisensory integration while attention was manipulated via a concurrent auditory or visual task. Sensory noise was measured within modality based on variability in unisensory performance and was used to predict attentional changes to McGurk perception. Consistent with previous studies, reports of the McGurk illusion decreased when accompanied with a secondary task; however, this effect was stronger for the secondary visual (as opposed to auditory) task. While auditory noise was not influenced by either secondary task, visual noise increased with the addition of the secondary visual task specifically. Interestingly, visual noise accounted for significant variability in attentional disruptions to the McGurk illusion. Overall, these results strongly suggest that sensory noise may underlie attentional alterations to multisensory integration in a modality-specific manner. Future studies are needed to determine whether this finding generalizes to other types of multisensory integration and attentional manipulations. This line of research may inform future studies of attentional alterations to sensory processing in neurological disorders, such as Schizophrenia, Autism, and ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful performance of a task relies on selectively attending to the target, while ignoring distractions. Studies on perceptual load theory (PLT), conducted involving independent tasks with visual and auditory modalities, have shown that if a task is low-load, distractors and the target are both processed. If the task is high-load, distractions are not processed. The current study expands these findings by considering the effect of cross-modality (target and distractor from separate modalities) and congruency (similarity of target and distractor) on selective attention, using a word-identification task. Parameters were analysed, including response time, accuracy rates, congruency of distractions, and subjective report of load. In contrast to past studies on PLT, the results of the current study show that modality (congruency of the distractors) had a significant effect and load had no effect on selective attention. This study demonstrates that subjective measurement of load is important when studying perceptual load and selective attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We receive information about the world around us from multiple senses which combine in a process known as multisensory integration. Multisensory integration has been shown to be dependent on attention; however, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. The current study investigates whether changes in sensory noise explain the effect of attention on multisensory integration and whether attentional modulations to multisensory integration occur via modality-specific mechanisms. A task based on the McGurk Illusion was used to measure multisensory integration while attention was manipulated via a concurrent auditory or visual task. Sensory noise was measured within modality based on variability in unisensory performance and was used to predict attentional changes to McGurk perception. Consistent with previous studies, reports of the McGurk illusion decreased when accompanied with a secondary task; however, this effect was stronger for the secondary visual (as opposed to auditory) task. While auditory noise was not influenced by either secondary task, visual noise increased with the addition of the secondary visual task specifically. Interestingly, visual noise accounted for significant variability in attentional disruptions to the McGurk illusion. Overall, these results strongly suggest that sensory noise may underlie attentional alterations to multisensory integration in a modality-specific manner. Future studies are needed to determine whether this finding generalizes to other types of multisensory integration and attentional manipulations. This line of research may inform future studies of attentional alterations to sensory processing in neurological disorders, such as Schizophrenia, Autism, and ADHD.

There is an ongoing debate on how different components of the event‐related potential (ERP) to threat‐related facial expressions are modulated by attentional conditions and interindividual differences in trait anxiety. In the current study (N = 80), we examined ERPs to centrally presented, task‐irrelevant fearful and neutral faces, while participants had to solve a face‐unrelated visual task, which differed in difficulty and spatial position. Critically, we used a fixation‐controlled experimental design and ensured the spatial attention manipulation by spectral analysis of the EEG. Besides the factors emotion, spatial attention, and perceptual load, we also investigated correlations between trait anxiety and ERPs. While P1 emotion effects were insignificant, the N170 was increased to fearful faces regardless of load and spatial attention conditions. During the EPN time window, a significantly increased negativity for fearful faces was observed only during low load and spatial attention to the face. We found no significant relationship between ERPs and trait anxiety, questioning the hypothesis of a general hypersensitivity toward fearful expressions in anxious individuals. These results show a high resistance of the N170 amplitude increase for fearful faces to spatial attention and task load manipulations. By contrast, the EPN modulation by fearful faces index a resource‐dependent stage of the ERP, requiring both spatial attention at the location of faces and low load of the face‐irrelevant task. The human brain responds differentially to fearful expressions. It remains unclear how and when attentional constraints attenuate differential processing. We systematically tested how spatial attention, task load, and trait anxiety affect neuronal processing to resolve this question. We found that early (N170) ERP responses to fearful faces were independent of attention task manipulations, in contrast to a subsequent resource‐dependent processing stage (EPN). Further, we found no significant relationship between ERP responses and trait anxiety, questioning the hypothesis of a general hypersensitivity toward fearful expressions in anxious individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interruptions in the working environment cause extra mental workload for the operators, and this phenomenon has garnered significant research attention. This study designed four interruption conditions based on the perceptual and cognitive perspectives of human information processing, using a 2(perceptual primary task and cognitive primary task)*2(perceptual interruption task and cognitive interruption task) factorial design. Multimodal measurement methods were used to evaluate mental workload in different interruption conditions. The results show that when the primary task and the interruption task are different load types, they generate a higher mental workload than the same load type. It can be attributed to the fact that perceptual tasks and cognitive tasks increase mental workload during switching. In addition, based on the multimodal index data, the prediction model of interruption recovery delay time and the classification model of interruption conditions are established, which provides a basis for rational scheduling of work and preventing mental overload.

Background noise disrupts auditory selective attention and impairs performance on cognitive tasks, but the degree to which it is disruptive depends on the task and the individual. According to the load theory of attention and cognitive control, selective attention is influenced by both the perceptual load and the cognitive load of the primary task. Recent studies suggest that hard-to-read font in a reading task may shield attention against background noise and auditory distraction. The current study examined the disruptive effect of background noise on reading comprehension as a function of perceptual load and cognitive load. Perceptual load was manipulated by introducing task disfluency (hard-to-read or easy-to-read font), and cognitive load was manipulated by varying the type of background noise and investigating individual differences in working memory capacity. The results suggest that high perceptual load and high working memory capacity both facilitate reading comprehension. However, contrary to previous research, neither perceptual load nor capacity moderates the disruptive effect of background noise. These results failed to support the generalizability and applicability of the shield effect of perceptual disfluency against auditory distraction during reading but supported the beneficial effect of perceptual disfluency on reading comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research domain on the Quality of Experience (QoE) of 2D video streaming has been well established. However, a new video format is emerging and gaining popularity and availability: VR 360-degree video. The processing and transmission of 360-degree videos brings along new challenges such as large bandwidth requirements and the occurrence of different distortions. The viewing experience is also substantially different from 2D video, it offers more interactive freedom on the viewing angle but can also be more demanding and cause cybersickness. The first goal of this article is to complement earlier research by Tran, et al. (2017) [39] testing the effects of quality degradation, freezing, and content on the QoE of 360-videos. The second goal is to test the contribution of visual attention as an influence factor in the QoE assessment. Data was gathered through subjective tests where participants watched degraded versions of 360-videos through a Head-Mounted Display with integrated eye-tracking sensors. After each video they answered questions regarding their quality perception, experience, perceptual load, and cybersickness. Our results showed that the participants rated the overall QoE rather low, and the ratings decreased with added degradations and freezing events. Cyber sickness was found not to be an issue. The effects of the manipulations on visual attention were minimal. Attention was mainly directed by content, but also by surprising elements. The addition of eye-tracking metrics did not further explain individual differences in subjective ratings. Nevertheless, it was found that looking at moving objects increased the negative effect of freezing events and made participants less sensitive to quality distortions. More research is needed to conclude whether visual attention is an influence factor on the QoE in 360-video. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lavie’s perceptual load theory (Lavie, 1995) proposes that the influence of distractors would be blocked as the load gets higher. Studies of perceptual load have usually adopted the flanker task, developed by Eriksen and Eriksen (1974), which measures reaction time on the target flanked by distractors. In the post-cueing forced task, participants should report the identity of the target cued later, and negative repetition effect (NRE) has often been observed. NRE means the effect that the accuracy of identification is worse when the target is flanked by the same nontargets than when flanked by different nontargets. This study has tried to check whether perceptual load has an effect on identification rate and NRE. Experiment 1 manipulated the similarity between targets and a distractor, and observed a tendency of NRE, but not the effect of perceptual load. Experiment 2 used 4, 2 (in two kinds of diagonal arrangement), or none distractors of the same identity to burden more perceptual load. NRE was significant and perceptual load showed significance but not a linear trend. Experiment 3 checked again whether NRE would be varied according to two levels of perceptual load strengthened by positional variability of load stimuli, but did not find the effect of perceptual load. It is concluded that perceptual load might have a limited effect on the early stage of perceptual processing due to divided attentional processing of the targets briefly exposed. Implications of this study were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of auditory, visual, and audiovisual warning signals for capturing the attention of the pilot, and how stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) in audiovisual stimuli affect pilots perceiving the bimodal warning signals under different perceptual load conditions. In experiment 1 of the low perceptual load condition, participants discriminated the location (right vs. left) of visual targets preceded by five different types of warning signals. In experiment 2 of high perceptual load, participants completed the location task identical to a low load condition and a digit detection task in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. The main effect of warning signals in two experiments showed that visual and auditory cues presented simultaneously (AV) could effectively and efficiently arouse the attention of the pilots in high and low load conditions. Specifically, auditory (A), AV, and visual preceding auditory stimulus by 100 ms (VA100) increased the spatial orientation to a valid position in low load conditions. With the increase in visual perceptual load, auditory preceding the visual stimulus by 100 ms (AV100) and A warning signals had stronger spatial orientation. The results are expected to theoretically support the optimization design of the cockpit display interface, contributing to immediate flight crew awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Attention selection is considered to be determined by the perceptual load of cognitive tasks and attention resources that are assigned to processing‐independent stimuli. Methods: Using visual search paradigm and Schulte grid, the behavioral responses and event‐related potential (ERP) of 27 pupils aged 8–11 (12 girls and 15 boys) were recorded. The subjects were asked to search for the numbers 1, 2, and 3 sequentially and locate the number 5 in the case of monochromatic (black) and bicolor (black‐red) numbers. Results: We found that the sequential search task took longer than the location search task (p <.05). Furthermore, both search tasks took longer in two‐color conditions than in monochromatic conditions. However, as for sequential search and location search tasks, no significant intra‐group difference was found. ERP data showed that there was significant difference between monochromatic and bichromatic conditions in locating search tasks (P2–P4: p <.05; T7: p <.05, T8: p <.05), but there was no significant difference in sequential search tasks. Conclusions: Our results indicates that red will be interfered when searching for one number, but will not be interfered when searching for three numbers, which is related to the higher perceptual load of sequential search tasks and less attention resources than those used to interfere with stimulus processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research over the past 25 years indicates that stimulus processing is diminished when attention is engaged in a perceptually demanding task of high 'perceptual load'. These results have generalized across a variety of stimulus categories, but a controversy evolved over the question of whether perception of distractor faces (or other categories of perceptual expertise) can proceed irrespective of the level of perceptual load in the attended task. Here we identify task-relevance, and in particular identity-relevance, as a potentially important factor in explaining prior inconsistencies. In four experiments, we tested whether perceptual load in an attended letter or word task modulates the processing of famous face distractors, while varying their task-relevance. Distractor interference effects on task RTs was reduced by perceptual load not only when the faces were entirely task-irrelevant, but also when the face gender was task relevant, within a name gender classification response-competition task, using famous female or male distractor faces. However, when the identity associated with the famous faces was primed by the task using their names, as in prior demonstrations that face distractors are immune to the effects of perceptual load, we were able to replicate these prior findings. Our findings demonstrate a role for identity-priming by the relevant task in determining attentional capture by faces under high perceptual load. Our results also highlight the importance of considering even relatively subtle forms of task-relevance in selective attention research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of auditory, visual, and audiovisual warning signals for capturing the attention of the pilot, and how stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) in audiovisual stimuli affect pilots perceiving the bimodal warning signals under different perceptual load conditions. In experiment 1 of the low perceptual load condition, participants discriminated the location (right vs. left) of visual targets preceded by five different types of warning signals. In experiment 2 of high perceptual load, participants completed the location task identical to a low load condition and a digit detection task in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. The main effect of warning signals in two experiments showed that visual and auditory cues presented simultaneously (AV) could effectively and efficiently arouse the attention of the pilots in high and low load conditions. Specifically, auditory (A), AV, and visual preceding auditory stimulus by 100 ms (VA100) increased the spatial orientation to a valid position in low load conditions. With the increase in visual perceptual load, auditory preceding the visual stimulus by 100 ms (AV100) and A warning signals had stronger spatial orientation. The results are expected to theoretically support the optimization design of the cockpit display interface, contributing to immediate flight crew awareness.

Abstract Background Attention selection is considered to be determined by the perceptual load of cognitive tasks and attention resources that are assigned to processing‐independent stimuli. Methods Using visual search paradigm and Schulte grid, the behavioral responses and event‐related potential (ERP) of 27 pupils aged 8–11 (12 girls and 15 boys) were recorded. The subjects were asked to search for the numbers 1, 2, and 3 sequentially and locate the number 5 in the case of monochromatic (black) and bicolor (black‐red) numbers. Results We found that the sequential search task took longer than the location search task (p

Successful performance of a task relies on selectively attending to the target, while ignoring distractions. Studies on perceptual load theory (PLT), conducted involving independent tasks with visual and auditory modalities, have shown that if a task is low-load, distractors and the target are both processed. If the task is high-load, distractions are not processed. The current study expands these findings by considering the effect of cross-modality (target and distractor from separate modalities) and congruency (similarity of target and distractor) on selective attention, using a word-identification task. Parameters were analysed, including response time, accuracy rates, congruency of distractions, and subjective report of load. In contrast to past studies on PLT, the results of the current study show that modality (congruency of the distractors) had a significant effect and load had no effect on selective attention. This study demonstrates that subjective measurement of load is important when studying perceptual load and selective attention.

Digital media are sensory-rich, multimodal, and often highly interactive. An extensive collection of theories and models within the field of media psychology assume the multimodal nature of media stimuli, yet there is current ambiguity as to the independent contributions of visual and auditory content to message complexity and to resource availability in the human processing system. In this article, we argue that explicating the concepts of perceptual and cognitive load can create progress toward a deeper understanding of modality-specific effects in media processing. In addition, we report findings from an experiment showing that perceptual load leads to modality-specific reductions in resource availability, whereas cognitive load leads to a modality-general reduction in resource availability. We conclude with a brief discussion regarding the critical importance of separating modality-specific forms of load in an increasingly multisensory media environment.

In this study, we jointly reported in an empirical and a theoretical way, for the first time, two main theories: Lavie's perceptual load theory and Gaspelin et al.'s attentional dwelling hypothesis. These theories explain in different ways the modulation of the perceptual load/task difficulty over attentional capture by irrelevant distractors and lead to the observation of the opposite results with similar manipulations. We hypothesized that these opposite results may critically depend on the distractor type used by the two experimental procedures (i.e., distractors inside vs. outside the attentional focus, which could be, respectively, considered as potentially relevant vs. completely irrelevant to the main task). Across a series of experiments, we compared both theories within the same paradigm by manipulating both the perceptual load/task difficulty and the distractor type. The results were strongly consistent, suggesting that the influence of task demands on attentional capture varies as a function of the distractor type: while the interference from (relevant) distractors presented inside the attentional focus was consistently higher for high vs. low load conditions, there was no modulation by (irrelevant) distractors presented outside the attentional focus. Moreover, we critically analyzed the theoretical conceptualization of interference using both theories, disentangling important outcomes for the dwelling hypothesis. Our results provide specific insights into new aspects of attentional capture, which can critically redefine these two predominant theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies confirmed that the cognitive resources are limited for each person, and perceptual load affects the detection of stimulus greatly; however, how the visual perceptual load influences audiovisual integration (AVI) is still unclear. Here, 20 older and 20 younger adults were recruited to perform an auditory/visual discrimination task under various visual perceptual-load conditions. The analysis for the response times revealed a significantly faster response to the audiovisual stimulus than to the visual stimulus or auditory stimulus (all p < 0.001), and a significantly slower response by the older adults than by the younger adults to all targets (all p ≤ 0.024). The race-model analysis revealed a higher AV facilitation effect for older (12.54%) than for younger (7.08%) adults under low visual perceptual-load conditions; however, no obvious difference was found between younger (2.92%) and older (3.06%) adults under medium visual perceptual-load conditions. Only the AV depression effect was found for both younger and older adults under high visual perceptual-load conditions. Additionally, the peak latencies of AVI were significantly delayed in older adults under all visual perceptual-load conditions. These results suggested that visual perceptual load decreased AVI (i.e., depression effects), and the AVI effect was increased but delayed for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we jointly reported in an empirical and a theoretical way, for the first time, two main theories: Lavie’s perceptual load theory and Gaspelin et al.’s attentional dwelling hypothesis. These theories explain in different ways the modulation of the perceptual load/task difficulty over attentional capture by irrelevant distractors and lead to the observation of the opposite results with similar manipulations. We hypothesized that these opposite results may critically depend on the distractor type used by the two experimental procedures (i.e., distractors inside vs. outside the attentional focus, which could be, respectively, considered as potentially relevant vs. completely irrelevant to the main task). Across a series of experiments, we compared both theories within the same paradigm by manipulating both the perceptual load/task difficulty and the distractor type. The results were strongly consistent, suggesting that the influence of task demands on attentional capture varies as a function of the distractor type: while the interference from (relevant) distractors presented inside the attentional focus was consistently higher for high vs. low load conditions, there was no modulation by (irrelevant) distractors presented outside the attentional focus. Moreover, we critically analyzed the theoretical conceptualization of interference using both theories, disentangling important outcomes for the dwelling hypothesis. Our results provide specific insights into new aspects of attentional capture, which can critically redefine these two predominant theories.

Previous studies confirmed that the cognitive resources are limited for each person, and perceptual load affects the detection of stimulus greatly; however, how the visual perceptual load influences audiovisual integration (AVI) is still unclear. Here, 20 older and 20 younger adults were recruited to perform an auditory/visual discrimination task under various visual perceptual-load conditions. The analysis for the response times revealed a significantly faster response to the audiovisual stimulus than to the visual stimulus or auditory stimulus (all p < 0.001), and a significantly slower response by the older adults than by the younger adults to all targets (all p ≤ 0.024). The race-model analysis revealed a higher AV facilitation effect for older (12.54%) than for younger (7.08%) adults under low visual perceptual-load conditions; however, no obvious difference was found between younger (2.92%) and older (3.06%) adults under medium visual perceptual-load conditions. Only the AV depression effect was found for both younger and older adults under high visual perceptual-load conditions. Additionally, the peak latencies of AVI were significantly delayed in older adults under all visual perceptual-load conditions. These results suggested that visual perceptual load decreased AVI (i.e., depression effects), and the AVI effect was increased but delayed for older adults.

Debate centres on the difficulty to distinguish precisely whether cognitive or perceptual load determines performance in tasks such as the Halford Graphical Relational Complexity Task (HGRCT). In this task, visual information is presented, and participants are asked to perform a series of mental operations that require working memory (WM) to complete the task. This study compared performance on purely visual as well as a cognitive task over arity, defined as the "amount of information to be remembered" and so a measure of working-memory load. Errors increased generally with increasing arity. However, reaction-time (RT) slopes revealed small to moderate increases over arity for the visual task while there was a major increase in the RT slope in the cognitive task. It cannot be ruled out that visual information load increases task difficulty, however, the difference in magnitude of the RT slopes over arity indicates that resolving the HGRCT is mainly dependent upon performance in cognitive mechanisms and may be relatively uninfluenced by the performance of perceptual memory systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of a goal-directed task is often interrupted by task-irrelevant distractors. This distractor interference has well been demonstrated in a large body of studies employing the Eriksen flanker paradigm. A notable finding regarding this issue is that distractor interference is attenuated by increased perceptual load or the presence of non-target stimuli diluting distractors. Besides increased perceptual load or the presence of diluters, we hypothesized that either suppression of distractor or enhancement of target via top-down attentional control would also contribute to modulating distractor interference. To test this, we had participants identify a target stimulus while ignoring a distractor under three different conditions; under low load, only the target and distractor was presented, while under high load, the target was surrounded by non-target letters. In the dilution condition, the target was accompanied by non-targets, whose colors were distinct from the target. Importantly, following the task stimuli, a probe stimulus was presented either in the target location, non-target location, or distractor location. As results, under low load, attention was captured by the target stimulus in a bottom-up manner at the early stage of processing. By contrast, in the high load and dilution conditions, attention was focused on the target in a top-down manner. Taken together, we suggest that increasing perceptual load or presenting diluters incentivizes the establishment of top-down bias toward the target stimulus, which plays a role in attenuating distractor interference.

Chronic insomnia is associated with subjective daytime cognitive dysfunction, but objective corroborative data are often lacking. In this study, we use Perceptual Load Theory to objectively assess distractibility in participants with insomnia (N = 23) compared with age- and sex-matched controls (N = 23). Following overnight supervised sleep observation, all participants completed a selective attention task which varied in the level of perceptual load and distractor congruency. The insomnia group was found to be more distracted than controls, whereas their selective attention mechanism appeared to be intact, with reduced distractor processing under high load for both groups. Insomnia symptom severity was positively correlated with participant distractibility. These findings suggest that there are insomnia-related daytime cognitive impairments that are likely to arise from compromised cognitive control rather than an ineffective selective attention mechanism. This task may be clinically useful in assessing daytime impairments, and potentially treatment response, in those with insomnia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of increasing visual perceptual load on auditory awareness for social and non-social stimuli in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 63) and typically developing (TD, n = 62) adolescents. Using an inattentional deafness paradigm, a socially meaningful ('Hi') or a non-social (neutral tone) critical stimulus (CS) was unexpectedly presented under high and low load. For the social CS both groups continued to show high awareness rates as load increased. Awareness rates for the non-social stimulus were reduced when load increased for the TD, but not the ASD group. The findings indicate enhanced capacity for non-social stimuli in ASD compared to TD, and a special attentional status for social stimuli in the TD group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reward history of a stimulus can yield strong attentional selection biases. Indeed, attentional capture can be triggered by previously rewarded items which are neither salient nor relevant for the ongoing task, even when selection is clearly counter-productive to actually obtain the reward outcome. Therefore, value-driven attentional capture (VDAC) has been argued to be an automatic attention mechanism. Our study aimed at putting the VDAC automaticity directly to the test. For this purpose, the Load Theory offers a comprehensive framework where distraction is observed under low but not high perceptual load condition. Nevertheless, if VDAC is indeed automatic, distraction by reward-stimuli should be observed on both perceptual load conditions. We used a feature vs. conjunction discrimination of a go/no-go cue to manipulate perceptual load. As expected, our results revealed that perceptual load decreased interference produced by low-reward distractor. However, this effect was not significant for high-reward distractor, giving support to VDAC automaticity. We discussed our results in light of the Load Theory literature and we strongly encourage to consider reward history along with perceptual load in determining attentional capture.