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.

我们的大脑不断受到刺激的轰炸，但我们必须注意其中与我们当前任务相关的一小部分。例如，在阅读这篇文章时，你要注意的是由单词组成的黑色特征，而不是交通噪音或背景中说话的人。这种关键的聚焦能力必须与环境突然变化的干扰保持平衡，这些变化与目标无关，但可能预示着更重要的事情。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，这可能会损害我们的智力表现。这一建议侧重于一个持续研究项目的两个流，其中心目标是在不相关刺激存在的情况下，对涉及在聚焦性和渗透性之间取得最佳平衡的过程进行建模。更具体地说，目前的研究项目采用行为学和生理学相结合的方法来研究听觉领域的分心，目的是促进对自动和受控加工的基本认知机制的理论理解。第一部分概述了一个系统的研究，旨在推进对听觉分心如何被更高的执行功能所缓和的理论理解。为了理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一种认知控制机制进行研究，并确定自上而下控制的位点。这项工作将使我们能够理解和预测主要的环境条件和一些控制分心可能性的个人特定倾向。第二方面的研究涉及背景语音的语义特性。更具体地说，这个流试图确定不相关声音的内容及其意义是如何被处理的，以及这种处理是如何干扰正在进行的目标相关行为的。这将通过仔细研究在我的实验室中建立的一种新型听觉分心形式的功能特征来实现，其中自动检测被忽略的声音中的语义不一致会干扰任务表现。这项研究的目的是促进我们对参与和不参与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关注的信息是如何被处理的知识，这种处理是如何导致焦点性失败的，以及这种分心是如何被更高的认知功能所缓和的。研究结果肯定会超越其理论影响，对理解和补救分心具有实际意义。