The interplay between the attended and the unattended: A gateway to automatic and controlled processing

有人值守和无人值守之间的相互作用：自动控制处理的门户

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05626
• 负责人: Vachon, François
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=740689
• 关键词: interplay; between; attended; unattended; gateway

Our minds are constantly bombarded with stimuli and yet we must pay attention to the small subset of these that are relevant to our present task. For example, when reading this text you are paying attention to the black features comprising words and not traffic noise or people talking in the background. This crucial ability for focusability must be balanced against remaining open to interruption by sudden changes in the environment that are goal-irrelevant but may signal something more important. Thus, to some extent we must remain distractible, i.e. permeable to irrelevant information. However, in many cases, the essential capacity for permeability leaves us open to unwanted distraction that threatens to impair mental performance. This proposal focuses on two streams of a continuing program of research that has as its central goal the modeling of the processes involved in striking the optimal balance between focusability and permeability in the presence of irrelevant stimulation. More specifically, the current research project investigates distraction in the auditory domain using combinations of behavioral and physiological methods with human participants with the objective to advance the theoretical understanding of basic cognitive mechanisms involved in automatic and controlled processing. The first stream outlines a systematic investigation that aims to advance the theoretical comprehension of how auditory distraction can be tempered by higher executive functions. To understand how the cognitive control of distraction is achieved, we propose to examine high task-set activation as a mechanism of cognitive control and to pinpoint the locus of top-down control. This work will allow us to understand and predict the main contextual conditions and some person-specific dispositions that govern the likelihood of distraction. The second line of research is concerned with the semantic properties of background speech. More specifically, this stream endeavors to determine how the content of the irrelevant sound and its meaning are processed and how such processing interferes with ongoing goal-related behavior. This will be achieved by scrutinizing the functional characteristics of a novel form of auditory distraction established in my lab, whereby the automatic detection of a semantic incongruence within to-be-ignored sound disrupts task performance. This research is designed to advance our understanding of how the interplay between the attended and the unattended influences the delicate balance between focusability and distractibility. The combination of experimental and physiological techniques will enrich our knowledge of how unattended information is processed, how such processing contributes to failure of focusability, and how such distraction can be tempered by higher cognitive functions. The results will certainly extend beyond its theoretical impact by having practical implications for the comprehension and remediation of distraction.

我们的头脑不断受到刺激的轰炸，但我们必须注意与我们当前任务相关的一小部分。例如，当阅读这段文字时，你注意的是由文字组成的黑色特征，而不是交通噪音或背景中的人说话。这种关键的专注能力必须与环境中与目标无关但可能预示着更重要事情的突然变化所带来的中断保持平衡。因此，在某种程度上，我们必须保持分心，即渗透到无关的信息。然而，在许多情况下，渗透性的基本能力使我们容易受到不必要的干扰，这可能会损害心理表现。该建议侧重于两个流的持续研究计划，其中心目标是建模的过程中涉及的罢工之间的最佳平衡的可聚焦性和渗透性的存在无关的刺激。更具体地说，目前的研究项目调查分心在听觉领域使用的行为和生理方法与人类参与者的组合，目的是推进自动和控制处理的基本认知机制的理论理解。第一个流概述了一个系统的调查，旨在推进听觉分心如何可以通过更高的执行功能锻炼的理论理解。为了了解分心的认知控制是如何实现的，我们建议将高任务集激活作为认知控制的一种机制，并确定自上而下的控制轨迹。这项工作将使我们能够理解和预测的主要背景条件和一些人的具体性格，管理分心的可能性。第二条研究路线关注背景语音的语义特性。更具体地说，这个流努力确定如何处理不相关声音的内容及其含义，以及这种处理如何干扰正在进行的目标相关行为。这将通过仔细研究在我的实验室建立的一种新形式的听觉分心的功能特征来实现，从而自动检测到语义不一致的声音被忽略，破坏任务的执行。这项研究旨在促进我们对被关注者和未被关注者之间的相互作用如何影响注意力集中和注意力分散之间的微妙平衡的理解。实验和生理技术的结合将丰富我们对无人注意的信息是如何处理的，这种处理如何导致聚焦失败，以及这种分心如何通过更高的认知功能来调节的知识。研究结果肯定会超出其理论影响，对分心的理解和补救具有实际意义。