Processing Visual Information from Unattended Locations

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9512089 SHIFFRIN Attention refers to the means we use to allocate scarce mental resources to deal with the many demands upon our cognitive systems. It is now well established that attention applied to incoming stimuli improves perception and memory for that material. This research will explore the converse: When as much attention as possible is allocated to one source of incoming information, does other arriving information receive any processing whatever? The answer is not presently known, but has critical import for theories of cognition. The answer also will provide crucial information needed to design training programs for tasks with cognitive and motor components. The research will explore this issue within the visual system. A number of letters will be presented briefly and simultaneously in a circular array. Prior to presentation, attention will be directed to one position in the array. Since timing will be such that eyemovements cannot be made, movement of attention will be internal. Control conditions will be used to verify that as much attention as possible is directed to the cued position. Most decisions will be made about the letter presented at the cued location, but occasionally the subject will be asked to make some simple decision about the letter presented at a distant location. The research will ask whether the accuracy of such decisions is greater than what would be predicted from pure guessing. Theories of automatic processing mandate that unattended information receives processing, but research to date, because of some critical flaws, does not provide the needed evidence. This series of studies is designed to provide definitive answers. It will also ask what types of information get processed in such unattended conditions. An important feature of the research project will be the development of a mathematical/simulation model of attention, automatic processing, and their relationship, extending research that has already b egun in the investigators' laboratories. ***