Attentional costs in multiple-object tracking.

Full Abstract

Attentional demands of multiple-object tracking were demonstrated using a dual-task paradigm. Participants were asked to make speeded responses based on the pitch of a tone, while at the same time tracking four of eight identical dots. Tracking difficulty was manipulated either concurrent with or after the tone task. If increasing tracking difficulty increases attentional demands, its effect should be larger when it occurs concurrent with the tone. In Experiment 1, tracking difficulty was manipulated by having all dots briefly attract one another on some trials, causing a transient increase in dot proximity and speed. Results showed that increasing proximity and speed had a significantly larger effect when it occurred at the same time as the tone task. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that manipulating either proximity or speed independently was sufficient to produce this pattern of results. Experiment 4 manipulated object contrast, which affected tracking performance equally whether it occurred concurrent with or after the tone task. Overall, results support the view that the moment-to-moment tracking of multiple objects demands attention. Understanding what factors increase the attentional demands of tracking may help to explain why tracking is sometimes successful and at other times fails.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Tombu, Michael (M); Seiffert, Adriane E (AE);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 418A Wilson Hall, 111 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. mike.tombu@vanderbilt.edu

Grants: R01 EY014984-03 (Agency:United States NEI)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Cognition (Cognition), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 108 (issue 1) : pp 1-25

Dates: Created 2008/06/02; Completed 2008/08/12;

PMID: 18281028, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Attention
Female
Humans

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.