Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, United States; Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota, United States.
Vision Res. 2023 Oct;211:108276. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2023.108276. Epub 2023 Jun 23.
Growing evidence has shown that attention can be habit-like, unconsciously and persistently directed toward locations that have frequently contained search targets in the past. The attentional preference typically arises when the eye gaze aligns with the attended location. Here we tested whether this spatial alignment is necessary for the acquisition of a search habit. To divert eye movements away from an attended location, we used gaze-contingent eye tracking, restricting the visible portion of the screen to an area opposite to the current gaze. Participants searched for a T target amidst a circular array of L distractors. Unbeknownst to them, the target appeared more frequently in one screen quadrant. Despite fixating on a location diametrically opposite to the visible, attended region, participants acquired probability cuing, producing quicker responses when the target appeared in the high-probability quadrant. They also showed a speed advantage in the diagonal quadrant. The attentional preference for the high-probability quadrant persisted during a testing phase in which the target's location was unbiased, but only when participants continued to search with the restricted view. These results indicate that a search habit can be acquired even when participants are required to look away from the high-probability locations. The finding suggests that the learned search habit is not solely a result of oculomotor learning.
越来越多的证据表明，注意力可以像习惯一样，在无意识中持续地指向过去经常包含搜索目标的位置。这种注意力偏好通常在眼球注视与被注视的位置对齐时出现。在这里，我们测试了这种空间对齐是否对于搜索习惯的习得是必要的。为了将眼球运动从被注视的位置上转移开，我们使用了基于注视的眼动追踪，将屏幕的可见部分限制在当前注视点的对面区域。参与者在圆形的 L 干扰物中搜索 T 目标。他们不知道的是，目标在屏幕的一个象限中出现的频率更高。尽管参与者的注视点固定在与可见、被注视区域相对的位置上，但他们还是获得了概率提示，当目标出现在高概率象限时，他们的反应更快。他们在对角线象限也表现出了速度优势。当目标位置无偏向且参与者继续使用受限视角进行搜索时，参与者对高概率象限的注意力偏好仍然存在。这些结果表明，即使要求参与者将目光从高概率位置移开，也可以习得搜索习惯。这一发现表明，习得的搜索习惯不仅仅是眼球运动学习的结果。
