Behavioural and real-world determinants of attention

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To cope with being constantly inundated with all types of information, attention acts to both filter out irrelevant content and focus in on that which is relevant. It is now clear that classical approaches are limited. Attention was understood as operating in one of two mutually exclusive modes: top-down and purposeful, such as when focusing on a goal, or bottom-up and effortless, responding to a stimulus, such as when exposed to a loud noise, also known as endogenous versus exogenous, respectively. When trying to explain how attention operates on more meaningful and emotional materials, such as people or rewards, the classic division fails to hold. The traditional approach, which has largely ignored individual differences and focused narrowly on lab-based computer tasks, is lacking. What is needed is to update and expand the theory to account for the new data to connect to meaningful, everyday behaviour, and to collect data that reveals critical individual differences. In my multi¬disciplinary approach, traditional lab-based studies are complemented with closely matched studies with greater ecologically validity and incorporating, real-world situations. Research methods will consist of (i) using computer tasks that collect response time and accuracy measures, (ii) collecting moment-by-moment responses from both computer tasks and real-world scenarios, (iii) tracking gaze behaviours using eye-tracking equipment, room cameras, and spyglasses, and (iv) collect large enough samples to be able to understand similarities and differences across participants. Not only will this research program help shape our understanding of attention, but it emphasizes taking a broader experimental approach, (a) by accounting for individual variability, (b) by obtaining multiple outcome measures, and (c) by running both lab-based and real-world investigations within the same individuals instead of in parallel, this work aims to provide a thorough understanding of how attention influences, and is influenced by, other types of information. This work will lead to a richer and more complete understanding of how attention functions in realistic behavioural settings, and has the potential to provide insights into possible mechanisms underlying both functional and dysfunctional behaviour regarding reward (e.g., gambling and gambling addiction) and social competence and incompetence (e.g., autism spectrum disorders).