An important issue of psychological research is how experiments conducted in the laboratory or theories based on such experiments relate to human performance in daily life. Immersive virtual reality (VR) allows control over stimuli and conditions at increased ecological validity. The goal of the present study was to accomplish a transfer of traditional paradigms that assess attention and distraction to immersive VR. To further increase ecological validity we explored attentional effects with daily objects as stimuli instead of simple letters. Participants searched for a target among distractors on the countertop of a virtual kitchen. Target–distractor discriminability was varied and the displays were accompanied by a peripheral flanker that was congruent or incongruent to the target. Reaction time was slower when target–distractor discriminability was low and when flankers were incongruent. The results were replicated in a second experiment in which stimuli were presented on a computer screen in two dimensions. The study demonstrates the successful translation of traditional paradigms and manipulations into immersive VR and lays a foundation for future research on attention and distraction in VR. Further, we provide an outline for future studies that should use features of VR that are not available in traditional laboratory research.

Diverse adaptive visual processing mechanisms allow us to complete visual search tasks in a wide visual photopic range (>0.6 cd/m2). Whether search strategies or mechanisms known from this range extend below, in the mesopic and scotopic luminance spectra (<0.6 cd/m2), has yet to be addressed. Based on a study that addressed simple target discrimination in luminance environments using contrast-dependent behavioral efficiency functions, we assessed visual search in more complex-feature and conjunction-search paradigms. The results verify the previously reported deficiency windows defined by an interaction of base luminance and luminance contrast for more complex visual-search tasks. Based on significant regression analyses, a more precise definition of the magnitude of contribution of different contrast parameters. Characterized feature search patterns had approximately a 2.5:1 ratio of contribution from the Michelson contrast property relative to Weber contrast, whereas the ratio was approximately 1:1 in a serial-search condition. The results implicate near-complete magnocellular isolation in a visual-search paradigm that has yet to be demonstrated. Our analyses provide a new method of characterizing visual search and the first insight in its underlying mechanisms in luminance environments in the low mesopic and scotopic spectra.

Traffic signs are important visual guiding signals for the safe navigation through complex road traffic. Interestingly, there is little variation in the traffic signs for cars around the world. However, remarkable variation exists for pedestrian traffic signs. Following up from an earlier study, we investigated the visual efficacy of female vs. male German Ampelmännchen pedestrian traffic signs. In a Stroop-like test, 30 subjects were presented with female and male go and no-go traffic light figures that were shown either in the corresponding or opposing color. Subjects had to indicate, based either solely on the form or the color of the figure, whether they were allowed to go. Accuracy and response times across all subjects did not differ for the female vs. male signs, indicating that Ampelfrau and Ampelmann signs have equal visual efficacy. However, subjects responded faster to signs of their own vs. the opposite gender. This preference for signs of one's own gender is in accordance with effects in social psychology described by social learning theory. An introduction of such novel traffic lights may, thus, contribute to higher compliance with the traffic sign signals.

The dorsal fronto-parietal attention network of the human brain plays a central role in tasks with conflicting visual stimuli, such as the flanker task. It is assumed to mediate spatial attention on the target and the distractor and thus influence the saliency of the target and resulting response times (RT) of subjects. Here we causally localized contributing ‘hot spots’ within the parietal and frontal cortical regions of the network using online Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Using a visual flanker task, subjects (n = 12) were instructed to identify a central target (‘>’ vs). Subjects responded faster to congruent than incongruent stimuli, indicating the presence of a flanker effect. Subject-specific hot spots were identified where TMS pulses significantly reduced the flanker effect for contralateral but not ipsilateral flankers. One, or two adjacent, hot spots were identified for all subjects in parietal as well as frontal regions. We conclude that online TMS can selectively disrupt attentional control of the contralateral visual field and identify contributing cortical hot spots with high spatial precision.

Event Abstract Back to Event Attenuation of visual search deficits through complimentary tactile stimulation in low luminance environments: evidence from ERP and eye tracking analyses. Mathew Hunter1*, Bettina Olk2 and Ben Godde1 1 Jacobs University, Germany 2 HSD Hochschule Döpfer, University of Applied Sciences, Germany Searching for a visual target among distractors is one of the most common yet complex tasks we are facing in our everyday lives. Despite the fact that our visual search mechanisms are quite adept, we are still subject to limitations of our visual processing which is particularly evident in environments of extremely low luminance (<0.5 cd/m2). Even with a thorough understanding of visual perception in low luminance environments, little is known regarding search processes within these conditions [1], and subsequently, the primary contributing factors to decreases in performance that are observed in these environments and if there are any mechanisms for attenuation. Hunter et al. [2] have provided contrast efficiency functions for simple visual search tasks within the low luminance spectrum, which specifically relate the cumulative effects of relative contrast luminance and the innate contrast of complex target stimuli to search performance. In an attempt to understand the mechanisms behind decreases in performance and how such decreases could be attenuated we have also demonstrated that different aspects of tactile stimulation, such as the predictive probability of a tactile stimulus, or type of tactile stimulation (spatial or frequency information regarding the location of a target), could be used to improve search performance and their fitting along an efficiency function [3]. We suggested a “gating window” providing the psychophysical boundaries pertaining to when in the visual search process tactile information can improve performance, and how this changes with respect to different tactile properties. We observed that coding of a tactile stimulus is only beneficial when a minimum mean response time of 500 ms is required in order to solve the task. The goal of the present study was to assess the neurophysiological mechanisms related to the reception of visual and complimentary tactile information and the visual scanning process. To this end we incorporated measurements of scan patterns (eye tracking) and of event related potentials (ERP). To isolate the temporal determinants of the “gating window”, we specifically focused on the early perceptual components that relate to the visual and tactile reception and integration spanning the first 500 ms of a trial. We targeted seven individual ERP components: P45, N80, P100, N140, N180, N2, and P300 and selected from the Fz, Cz, Pz, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1 and O2 electrodes. Eleven participants performed three different tactile-visual search (target present/absent) paradigms incorporating three different types of tactile encoding, i.e. frequency (20 Hz and 40 Hz stimulation), spatial (left vs right), and frequency and spatial, to provide information regarding the location of a target. We assessed in how far a given type of tactile stimulation was beneficial in improving visual search performance (adapted from [3]). Behavioural results replicated previous findings. The addition of a tactile stimulus designed to provide information about the target, improved performance (RT and d’) which is normally affected in low luminance environments; however, no differences were observed with respect to a specific tactile encoding type. Quantitative analyses of scan patterns measuring the number of saccades, fixation durations, search array dwell time and location were completed. Results revealed that the scan pattern variables were primarily influenced by tactile spatial coding (left vs right) with minimal effects observed in the frequency coding condition. The ERP results primarily implicated the N2 component at Fz, Cz and Pz electrodes as a contributing factor to performance demonstrated by a significant positive correlation with RT (0.87 p < 0.01) and a negative correlation (0.83 p < 0.01) for d’. More specifically, increased peak latencies reflected slower RTs and decreased performance. These correlations remained consistent independent of the type of tactile stimulation. With respect to scanning behavior, the N2 component over the C4 (0.75, p < 0.05) electrode correlated positively with the total number of fixations and negatively with the peak amplitude over the Cz electrode (Cz = -0.67, p < 0.005). The N2 component has been previously implicated in visual tactile cross-modal congruency paradigms [4], where incongruency reflects greater negative potential amplitudes. Consistent with our results, a greater incongruency or conflict would reflect poorer performance (slower RTs and poorer d’ score). Our results provide preliminary evidence with respect to the distinct integration gating component reported by Hunter et al. [3] and ultimately insight into the interactions of multi-sensory integration and performance. The individual components allowed verification of the gating, but more neural processing post this gating process that we did not examine with our study will contribute to response execution. References [1] Zele AJ, Cao D. Vision under mesopic and scotopic illumination. Front Psychol. 2015 Jan 22; 5:1594 [2] Hunter M, Godde B, Olk, B (Under Revision) Effects of Absolute Luminance and Luminance Contrast on Visual Discrimination Task in Low Mesopic Stimuli. [3] Hunter M, Godde B, Olk B. Effect of complimentary tactile information in visual search performance in low luminance environments. (In preparation) [4] Forster B and Pavone EF. (2008) Electrophysiological correlates of crossmodal visual distractor congruency effects: evidence for response conflict. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 8(1) 65-73. Keywords: Visual tactile integration, N2 ERP, visual search, cross-modal integration, luminance contrast Conference: SAN2016 Meeting, Corfu, Greece, 6 Oct - 9 Oct, 2016. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation in SAN 2016 Conference Topic: Oral Presentations Citation: Hunter M, Olk B and Godde B (2016). Attenuation of visual search deficits through complimentary tactile stimulation in low luminance environments: evidence from ERP and eye tracking analyses.. Conference Abstract: SAN2016 Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2016.220.00020 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Jul 2016; Published Online: 30 Jul 2016. * Correspondence: Mr. Mathew Hunter, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany, m.hunter@jacobs-university.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde Google Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde Google Scholar Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde PubMed Mathew Hunter Bettina Olk Ben Godde Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Das Lehrbuch zur Gerontopsychologie gibt einen verständlichen Überblick über die Grundlagen und Mechanismen des Alterns und zeigt Ansatzpunkte für erfolgreiches und gesundes Altern im Sinne der Lebensspannenpsychologie auf. Theorien zur Gerontopsychologie, empirische Befunde und Anwendungsbeispiele aus verschiedenen Disziplinen (Psychologie, Neurowissenschaften, Bewegungswissenschaften, Biologie u. a.) beleuchten den Alternsprozess in all seinen Facetten. Dabei werden pathologische Alterungsprozesse und altersbedingte Krankheiten ebenso beschrieben wie Strategien der Prävention und Intervention. Berücksichtigt wird immer auch der soziale Kontext (Arbeit, Familie, Gesellschaft) der Altersentwicklung.

The cueing paradigm provides an established method for eliciting involuntary and voluntary attention shifts. Involuntary orienting is traditionally measured with non-predictive peripheral cues and voluntary orienting with predictive central arrows. Recent studies with young adults have established that predictive central arrows trigger a combination of involuntary and voluntary orienting, raising the possibility that previous studies - including those with older adults - misinterpreted their findings with central arrow cues as isolating the effects of voluntary attention. The present experiment applied different cueing conditions that measured involuntary orienting, voluntary orienting, and involuntary and voluntary orienting in combination in older adults. The results show that past studies of voluntary orienting in older adults confound involuntary and voluntary orienting. Cueing effects in a condition that for the first time isolated voluntary orienting (predictive number cues) with older adults were significant, and comparable to effects for younger adults, demonstrating that older adults successfully utilize cues to direct their spatial attention strategically. A similar normal pattern of orienting was observed for involuntary orienting. Our study provides a methodology that can be applied effectively to isolate and investigate the effects of age on voluntary and involuntary attention.

The article reviews studies that have used the perturbation approach of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to assess the control of attention and manual response selection in conflict situations as elicited in three established paradigms: the Simon paradigm, the Flanker paradigm, and the Stroop paradigm. After describing the experimental conflict paradigms and briefly introducing TMS we review evidence for the involvement of different frontal and parietal cortical regions in the control of attention and response selection. For example, areas such as the frontal eye field (FEF) appear to significantly contribute to the encoding of spatial attributes of stimuli and areas of the parietal cortex, such as angular gyrus (AG), mediate the allocation of spatial attention and orienting. The dorsal medial frontal cortex (dMFC), supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) appear to be more related to response-related aspects of the conflicts (i.e., enhancement of signals related to correct movements, transformation of spatial information action codes, resolution of response selection conflicts, respectively). The reviewed studies illustrate crucial benefits but also limitations of TMS as well as the value of the combination of TMS with other methods. We suggest topics and approaches for future studies.

The cueing paradigm provides an established method for eliciting involuntary and voluntary attention shifts. Involuntary orienting is traditionally measured with non-predictive peripheral cues and voluntary orienting with predictive central arrows. Recent studies with young adults have established that predictive central arrows trigger a combination of involuntary and voluntary orienting, raising the possibility that previous studies – including those with older adults – misinterpreted their findings with central arrow cues as isolating the effects of voluntary attention. The present experiment applied different cueing conditions that measured involuntary orienting, voluntary orienting, and involuntary and voluntary orienting in combination in older adults. The results show that past studies of voluntary orienting in older adults confound involuntary and voluntary orienting. Cueing effects in a condition that for the first time isolated voluntary orienting (predictive number cues) with older adults were significant, and comparable to effects for younger adults, demonstrating that older adults successfully utilize cues to direct their spatial attention strategically. A similar normal pattern of orienting was observed for involuntary orienting. Our study provides a methodology that can be applied effectively to isolate and investigate the effects of age on voluntary and involuntary attention.

Research using computerized displays of simple stimuli has identified perceptual load as a critical factor for modulating distraction. Distraction is stronger when perceptual load is low than when it is high. Typically, participants determine which of two targets, e.g., letters, is present in a search array composed of other letters and perceptual load of the displays is varied. In the present experiment we made contact with the literature but increased ecological validity by assessing distraction in immersive Virtual Reality (VR), in which life-sized stimuli can be displayed in realistic settings, without losing the advantage of controlling conditions. Participants searched for a target (soda or yoghurt) among other daily objects on the countertop in a virtual kitchen. The search array was accompanied by a congruent or incongruent flanker. Perceptual load was manipulated. As expected, participants responded slower with incongruent flankers (flanker effect) and with high load (load effect), confirming that our materials and set up in the VR environment were suitable to elicit the basic effects. Contrary to our expectations based on the load theory of attention the flanker effect was not modulated by load. This finding may suggest that perceptual load may play a smaller role in attention and search in everyday situations than one would assume based on previous work. Obviously, virtual scenarios are more complex than the stimuli used and the conditions run in previous studies. Further, it is possible that daily, very familiar objects may be harder to ignore or be prioritized for processing also under high perceptual load. We discuss factors that may dilute or negate effects of perceptual load in a more ecologically valid situation and outline suggestions for further research. We suggest that VR offers an exciting interdisciplinary approach that may challenge our beliefs based on traditional laboratory research. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015. Language: en

Predictive arrow cues, which have traditionally been used to measure effects of voluntary attention, elicit a combination of involuntary and voluntary orienting. To measure effects of voluntary orienting in isolation, recent research has employed predictive number and color cues. The observed effects of the latter are smaller than those obtained with predictive arrows. We assessed whether this difference is related to the ease of decoding cue meaning, following the rationale that it may be easier to process direction information instructed by symbols such as arrows than by arbitrary numbers or colors and that this advantage of arrows may influence cueing effects. The same participants completed two separate conditions/tasks. They judged the direction indicated by a stimulus (left or right arrow, numbers 1 or 2, numbers 3 or 9, red or green) and detected a target following a predictive cue (arrow, number, color). They were significantly faster and more accurate at judging arrows than all other stimuli and exhibited a significantly larger cueing effect with arrows than all other cues. Critically, differences in speed and accuracy of judging stimulus direction were not correlated with the differences in cueing effects. This lack of a relationship was supported by Bayesian analyses, with all Bayes factors indicating substantial evidence in favor of the null hypothesis for no correlation. A lack of a correlation was supported by the observation that participants were better at judging direction of colors and numbers 1/2 compared to numbers 3/9, while the cueing effects in those three conditions were the same. Smaller cueing effects produced by predictive numbers and colors than arrows may rather be explained by the type of orienting that is engaged (predictive numbers and colors elicit voluntary orienting; predictive arrows measure a combination of voluntary and involuntary orienting) than by the ease of decoding cue meaning. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2014

The Posner cueing paradigm is one of the most widely used paradigms in attention research. Importantly, when employing it, it is critical to understand which type of orienting a cue triggers. It has been suggested that large effects elicited by predictive arrow cues reflect an interaction of involuntary and voluntary orienting. This conclusion is based on comparisons of cueing effects of predictive arrows, nonpredictive arrows (involuntary orienting), and predictive numbers (voluntary orienting). Experiment 1 investigated whether this conclusion is restricted to comparisons with number cues and showed similar results to those of previous studies, but now for comparisons to predictive colour cues, indicating that the earlier conclusion can be generalized. Experiment 2 assessed whether the size of a cueing effect is related to the ease of deriving direction information from a cue, based on the rationale that effects for arrows may be larger, because it may be easier to process direction information given by symbols such as arrows than that given by other cues. Indeed, direction information is derived faster and more accurately from arrows than from colour and number cues in a direction judgement task, and cueing effects are larger for arrows than for the other cues. Importantly though, performance in the two tasks is not correlated. Hence, the large cueing effects of arrows are not a result of the ease of information processing, but of the types of orienting that the arrows elicit.

A common strategy for visual encoding of multidimensional data for visual analyses is to use dimensionality reduction. Each multidimensional data point is projected to a 2D point using a certain strategy for the 2D layout. Many layout strategies have been proposed addressing different objectives and targeted at distinct domains and applications. The resulting projected information is typically displayed in form of 2D scatterplots. The user's perspective such as the role of visual attention and guidance of attention for a respective layout and task has not been addressed much. It is the goal of this work to investigate, how characteristics in the layout affect the cognitive process during task completion. Eye trackers are an effective means to capture visual attention over time. We use eye tracking in a user study, where we ask users to perform typical analysis tasks for projected multidimensional data such as relation seeking, behavior comparison, and pattern identification. Those tasks often involve detecting and correlating clusters. To understand the role of point density within clusters, cluster sizes, and cluster shapes, we first conducted a study with synthetic 2D scatterplots, where we can set the respective properties manually. We evaluate how changing various parameters affect the visual attention pattern and correlate it to the correctness of the answer. In a second step, we conducted a study where the users were asked to complete tasks on real-world data with different characteristics (image collection and document collection) that are visualized using a selection of different dimensionality reduction algorithms. We transfer the insight obtained from synthetic data to investigate the decision making with real-world data. Gestalt laws can be applied to the layout structure. We examine how certain layout techniques produce certain characteristics that change the visual attention pattern. We draw some conclusions on how different projection methods support or hinder decision making leading to respective guidelines.

Visual cues that allow predicting location and onset of a stimulus facilitate orienting. In a seminal study, Coull and Nobre (J Neurosci 18:7426–7435, 1998) adapted the spatial cueing paradigm to investigate temporal orienting. Recent research in the spatial domain suggests though that the cues used in the spatial and temporal conditions were not comparable. In the spatial condition predictive arrow cues engaged involuntary and voluntary attention, in the temporal condition line width cues elicited voluntary attention shifts. A valid comparison between attentional modalities on the behavioural and neurophysiological level requires though that cues differ only with respect to attentional modality (spatial, temporal) and not in other aspects. To develop cues that are comparable and to assess spatial and temporal orienting, new line width cues for spatial and temporal orienting were devised that both engage only voluntary attention, and the results were compared to the cues used by Coull and Nobre (J Neurosci 18:7426–7435, 1998). Further, catch trials were included to counteract reorienting at the late time interval to promote comparisons between spatial and temporal data at that interval. The results showed that the outcome of the comparison between spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal orienting depended on the type of cue that was used and hence the type of attention that was engaged in each condition. The results indicated that orienting is equally effective in space and in time when attention is directed voluntarily. The new cues employed here can easily be used for future studies to assess underlying brain mechanisms.

Using the flanker paradigm in a task requiring eye movement responses, we examined how stimulus type (arrows vs. letters) modulated effects of flanker and flanker position. Further, we examined trial sequence effects and the impact of stimulus type on these effects. Participants responded to a central target with a left- or rightward saccade. We reasoned that arrows, being overlearned symbols of direction, are processed with less effort and are therefore linked more easily to a direction and a required response than are letters. The main findings demonstrate that (a) flanker effects were stronger for arrows than for letters, (b) flanker position more strongly modulated the flanker effect for letters than for arrows, and (c) trial sequence effects partly differed between the two stimulus types. We discuss these findings in the context of a more automatic and effortless processing of arrow relative to letter stimuli.

Attention plays a crucial role in the Stroop task, which requires attending to less automatically processed task-relevant attributes of stimuli and the suppression of involuntary processing of task-irrelevant attributes. The experiment assessed the allocation of attention by monitoring eye movements throughout congruent and incongruent trials. Participants viewed two stimulus arrays that differed regarding the amount of items and their numerical value and judged by manual response which of the arrays contained more items, while disregarding their value. Different viewing patterns were observed between congruent (e.g., larger array of numbers with higher value) and incongruent (e.g., larger array of numbers with lower value) trials. The direction of first saccades was guided by task-relevant information but in the incongruent condition directed more frequently towards task-irrelevant information. The data further suggest that the difference in the deployment of attention between conditions changes throughout a trial, likely reflecting the impact and resolution of the conflict. For instance, stimulus arrays in line with the correct response were attended for longer and fixations were longer for incongruent trials, with the second fixation and considering all fixations. By the time of the correct response, this latter difference between conditions was absent. Possible mechanisms underlying eye movement patterns are discussed.

It is widely known that the human frontal cortex is involved in the allocation of visual attention, however, the exact causal functional contributions of individual subregions are not well understood. In the present study, we used a simple visual localization task and applied rTMS pulses to map frontal cortical subregions likely to generate significant visuo-spatial biases during the spatial deployment of attention prior to perception. A group of nine adult healthy subjects executed a task based on the localization of small rectangular black dots. Targets were displayed unilaterally (left or right) or bilaterally (left and right) for a brief period (40 ms). In a systematic mapping approach, a stimulation grid of 9 (3 × 3) sites was anchored 2 cm rostral to the motor hand area. Three pulses of real or sham 10 Hz rTMS were delivered in a counterbalanced manner, at each of the grid locations 50 ms post target onset to interfere with the ongoing neural processing. As a main finding, significant deterioration of detection performance, as measured by effective reaction time, for stimuli in the contralateral hemifield and increased performance for ipsilateral targets were observed for two grid regions anatomically associated with the right FEF and right middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that the disruptive effects of TMS on a simple spatial localization task for which a well-balanced deployment of attention is required are exquisitely spatially selective, and are found in specific frontal cortical subregions.

Visual attention and eye movement are important subjects of investigation with a wide area of application scenarios. The analysis of eye tracking data comprises examinations of differences between subjects and groups of subjects and identification of patterns and outliers within and between groups. To allow for such complex queries in an intuitive way, we present an interactive visual analysis tool using coordinated views. The views display areas of interest, statistical graphics of fixation times and time series and comprise novel visual encodings for spatiotemporal analysis and subject similarities. Interaction mechanisms allow for a refined analysis that takes into account all aspects of the data. We apply our approach to eye tracking data from psychological experiments and conduct a case study to demonstrate its effectiveness and intuitiveness.

In post-unification Germany, lingering conflicts between East and West Germans have found some unusual outlets, including a debate of the relative superiority of East and West German ‘Ampelmännchen’ pedestrian traffic signs. In our study, we probed the visual efficacy of East and West German Ampelmännchen signs with a Stroop-like conflict task. We found that the distinctive East German man-with-hat figures were more resistant to conflicting information, and in turn produced greater interference when used as distractors. These findings demonstrate Stroop-like effects for real-life objects, such as traffic signs, and underline the practical utility of an East German icon.