Wahn Basil, König Peter
Institute of Cognitive Science, Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.
Institut für Neurophysiologie und Pathophysiologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Adv Cogn Psychol. 2017 Mar 31;13(1):83-96. doi: 10.5709/acp-0209-2. eCollection 2017.
Human information processing is limited by attentional resources. That is, via attentional mechanisms, humans select a limited amount of sensory input to process while other sensory input is neglected. In multisensory research, a matter of ongoing debate is whether there are distinct pools of attentional resources for each sensory modality or whether attentional resources are shared across sensory modalities. Recent studies have suggested that attentional resource allocation across sensory modalities is in part task-dependent. That is, the recruitment of attentional resources across the sensory modalities depends on whether processing involves (e.g., the discrimination of stimulus attributes) or (e.g., the localization of stimuli). In the present paper, we review findings in multisensory research related to this view. For the visual and auditory sensory modalities, findings suggest that distinct resources are recruited when humans perform object-based attention tasks, whereas for the visual and tactile sensory modalities, partially shared resources are recruited. If object-based attention tasks are time-critical, shared resources are recruited across the sensory modalities. When humans perform an object-based attention task in combination with a spatial attention task, partly shared resources are recruited across the sensory modalities as well. Conversely, for spatial attention tasks, attentional processing does consistently involve shared attentional resources for the sensory modalities. Generally, findings suggest that the attentional system flexibly allocates attentional resources depending on task demands. We propose that such flexibility reflects a large-scale optimization strategy that minimizes the brain's costly resource expenditures and simultaneously maximizes capability to process currently relevant information.
人类信息处理受到注意力资源的限制。也就是说，通过注意力机制，人类选择有限数量的感官输入进行处理，而忽略其他感官输入。在多感官研究中，一个持续争论的问题是，每种感官模态是否存在不同的注意力资源池，或者注意力资源是否在不同感官模态之间共享。最近的研究表明，跨感官模态的注意力资源分配部分取决于任务。也就是说，跨感官模态的注意力资源募集取决于处理过程是涉及（例如，刺激属性的辨别）还是（例如，刺激的定位）。在本文中，我们回顾了多感官研究中与这一观点相关的发现。对于视觉和听觉感官模态，研究结果表明，当人类执行基于对象的注意力任务时，会募集不同的资源，而对于视觉和触觉感官模态，则会募集部分共享的资源。如果基于对象的注意力任务对时间要求很高，则会在不同感官模态之间募集共享资源。当人类将基于对象的注意力任务与空间注意力任务结合执行时，也会在不同感官模态之间募集部分共享的资源。相反，对于空间注意力任务，注意力处理始终涉及不同感官模态的共享注意力资源。一般来说，研究结果表明，注意力系统会根据任务需求灵活分配注意力资源。我们提出，这种灵活性反映了一种大规模的优化策略，该策略既能将大脑昂贵的资源消耗降至最低，又能同时最大限度地提高处理当前相关信息的能力。
