Behavioural and real-world determinants of attention

为了应对不断被各种类型的信息淹没，注意力的行为既过滤掉不相关的内容，又专注于相关的内容。现在很明显，经典的方法是有限的。注意力被理解为以两种相互排斥的模式之一运作：自上而下和有目的的，比如当专注于一个目标时，或者自下而上和毫不费力地对刺激做出反应，比如当暴露在巨大的噪音中时，分别被称为内源性和外源性。当试图解释注意力如何作用于更有意义和更情绪化的材料时，比如人或奖励，经典的划分无法成立。传统的方法在很大程度上忽略了个体差异，狭隘地专注于基于实验室的计算机任务，缺乏这种方法。我们需要的是更新和扩展这一理论，以解释新数据与有意义的日常行为之间的联系，并收集揭示关键个体差异的数据。在我的多学科方法中，传统的基于实验室的研究与紧密匹配的研究相辅相成，具有更好的生态学有效性，并结合了现实世界的情况。研究方法将包括：(I)使用收集反应时间和准确性测量的计算机任务，(Ii)从计算机任务和真实世界情景中收集每时每刻的反应，(Iii)使用眼睛跟踪设备、房间摄像头和望远镜跟踪凝视行为，以及(Iv)收集足够大的样本，以便能够了解参与者之间的相似和差异。这项研究计划不仅将帮助我们形成对注意力的理解，而且它强调采取更广泛的实验方法，(A)通过考虑个体的变异性，(B)通过获得多个结果测量，以及(C)通过在相同的个人中进行基于实验室的和现实世界的调查，而不是同时进行，这项工作旨在提供一个彻底的理解注意力如何影响其他类型的信息，以及如何受到其他类型信息的影响。这项工作将导致对注意在现实行为环境中如何发挥作用的更丰富和更完整的理解，并有可能为关于奖励(例如赌博和赌博成瘾)以及社交能力和无能(例如自闭症谱系障碍)的功能性和失调性行为的可能机制提供见解。

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).