Selective Attention

Virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD) appear to be effective research tools,
which may address the problem of ecological validity in neuropsychological testing.
However, their widespread implementation is hindered by VR induced symptoms
and effects (VRISE) and the lack of skills in VR software development. This study
offers guidelines for the development of VR software in cognitive neuroscience and
neuropsychology, by describing and discussing the stages of the development of Virtual
Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), the first neuropsychological battery in
immersive VR. Techniques for evaluating cognitive functions within a realistic storyline
are discussed. The utility of various assets in Unity, software development kits, and other
software are described so that cognitive scientists can overcome challenges pertinent
to VRISE and the quality of the VR software. In addition, this pilot study attempts to
evaluate VR-EAL in accordance with the necessary criteria for VR software for research
purposes. The VR neuroscience questionnaire (VRNQ; Kourtesis et al., 2019b) was
implemented to appraise the quality of the three versions of VR-EAL in terms of user
experience, game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. Twenty-five participants
aged between 20 and 45 years with 12–16 years of full-time education evaluated various
versions of VR-EAL. The final version of VR-EAL achieved high scores in every sub-score
of the VRNQ and exceeded its parsimonious cut-offs. It also appeared to have better
in-game assistance and game mechanics, while its improved graphics substantially increased the quality of the user experience and almost eradicated VRISE. The results
substantially support the feasibility of the development of effective VR research and
clinical software without the presence of VRISE during a 60-min VR session.

The core deficit in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) continues to present an enigma to scientists, professionals and parents alike. Medication with methylphenidate has to some extent proven successful, but it is still not known exactly what parts of the deficits in ADHD medication influences. It is thus important to further delineate the nature of ADHD and thoroughly investigate the possible subtypes. In this paper we describe some experiments investigating the nature of inhibition, resource allocation, sustained and selective attention, distractibility and task switching among children with ADHD. The conclusions could be used to advocate for different models of ADHD, e.g., a model of deficient response inhibition or a model of non-optimal resource allocation. Below we present our first steps toward a robot model of ADHD. The computational model can reproduce some of the behaviors shown in children with ADHD in experimental situations. The model suggests that a defici...

Objective Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is known as one of the most common neurological disorders that affect patients' lives tremendously. These people experience various dysfunctions. One of the most common problems in patients with MS is a balance deficit, which limits the participation and increases the risk of falling. Recently various studies were focused on finding the causes of this imbalance. On the other hand, these patients experience cognitive problems, such as attention deficit and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive flexibility and selective attention with balance in patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Materials & Methods This study is a cross-sectional case study. The statistical population in this study was patients with MS who referred to Kashani Hospital and Alzahra Isfahan Hospital in 1395 for inclusion in the study, based on available sampling method. MS diagnosis was performed in these centers with the approval of at least one adult neurologist. Finally, 40 patients with MS were selected by convenient sampling. A written consent form was received from all the families and the patients with MS themselves for participation in the study. All patients were kept confidential in the study, and they were allowed to leave during the study if they refused. The inclusion criteria to participate in the study were: satisfaction of patients to participate in the plan, the individual received a diagnosis of relapsing-remitting MS from those who were referred to Al-Zahra and Kashani hospitals in Isfahan, aged 20 to 40 years, at least two attacks in last 24 months, a score of less than 5.5 in EDSS was associated with a moderate degree of MS due to the severity of the disability and the symptoms of the disease, having sufficient insight and the ability to collaborate in the study through the MMSE test. The exclusion criteria of the study were: dissatisfaction of the patients with the continuation of the study, presence and participation in similar investigations in the last three months that were performed intermittently on executive functions, the presence of visual and auditory impairment, recurrence and severity of MS, disability from moderate to severe, and any abnormalities such as seizure. After that test EDSS, Stroop color-word test, Wisconsin card sorting, and Berg Balance Scale were completed by patients with MS. The results of the tests of executive function and balance were analyzed using SPSS20 software for the presence or absence of the relationship between executive function is determined by the balance. To analyze the data, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression and analysis of variance with repeated measures at the level of 0.05. Results The results of this study demonstrate a significant relationship between selective attention and balance problem (P<0.05). However, there is no significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and balance (P<0.05). As well as the selective attention can predict the balance problem (P<0.05) (P<0.01). Conclusion A significant relationship between selective attentions to balance demonstrates that appropriately designed interventions to repair the attention, can decrease the balance problem in patients with MS. One of the possible reasons for this relationship can be found in the brain system that attention circuits are interacting with equilibrium systems, and any defect in selective attention leads to a loss of balance. Patients with MS experience constant imbalance due to cerebral plaques and relapsing-remitting periods, and in addition to rehabilitation of the balance system, cognitive systems such as attention should be treated.

Recent empirical results suggest that there is a decrement in dividing attention between two objects in a scene compared with focusing attention on a single object. However, objects can be made of individual parts. Is there a decrement for dividing attention across different parts of a single object? We addressed this question in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that attention can exhibit part-based selection-that is, the subjects were more accurate in reporting two attributes from the same part of an object than they were in reporting attributes from different parts of an object. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that part-based attentional decrements occurred simultaneously with object-based attentional decrements. The results from Experiment 2 demonstrated that part-based attention is evident at the same time as objects are processed as coherent wholes. Our results imply that there is an attentional mechanism that can select either objects or their parts.

Using an uncertainty paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we studied the effect of nonspatial selective and divided visual attention on the activity of specific areas of human extrastriate visual cortex. The stimuli were single ovals that differed from an implicit standard oval in either colour or width. The subjects' task was to classify the current stimulus as one of two possible alternatives per stimulus dimension.

The proposal that peripheral visual changes (cues) tend to summon attention automatically was tested by studying the effect of peripheral cueing on simple detection latency. Delay between cue onset and target onset, the contingent relationship between cue location and target location, and instructions to subjects were manipulated. Results showed that a peripheral display change could capture attention even when the target was far more likely to appear at an uncued location. When subjects were explicitly informed that targets were likely to appear away from the cued location they were able to suppress this effect, but were unable completely to reverse it by rapidly orienting attention towards the uncued side. Hence the process appears to be automatic in the sense that it occurs unless there are explicit instructions to the contrary. With explicit instructions the processing operation can be suppressed, but not completely reversed.

Hazard perception is the ability to read the road and is closely related to involvement in traffic accidents. It consists of both cognitive and behavioral components. Within the cognitive component, visual attention is an important function of driving whereas driving behavior, which represents the behavioral component, can affect the hazard perception of the driver. Motorcycle riders are the most vulnerable types of road user. The primary purpose of this study was to deepen our understanding of the correlation of different subtypes of visual attention and driving violation behaviors and their effect on hazard perception between accident-free and accident-involved motorcycle riders. Sixty-three accident-free and 46 accident-involved motorcycle riders undertook four neuropsychological tests of attention (Digit Vigilance Test, Color Trails Test-1, Color Trails Test-2, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test), filled out the Chinese Motorcycle Rider Driving Violation (CMRDV) Questionnaire, and viewed a road-user-based hazard situation with an eye-tracking system to record the response latencies to potentially dangerous traffic situations. The results showed that both the divided and selective attention of accident-involved motorcycle riders were significantly inferior to those of accident-free motorcycle riders, and that accident-involved riders exhibited significantly higher driving violation behaviors and took longer to identify hazardous situations compared to their accident-free counterparts. However, the results of the regression analysis showed that aggressive driving violation CMRDV score significantly predicted hazard perception and accident involvement of motorcycle riders. Given that all participants were mature and experienced motorcycle riders, the most plausible explanation for the differences between them is their driving style (influenced by an undesirable driving attitude), rather than skill deficits per se. The present study points to the importance of conceptualizing the influence of different driving behaviors so as to enrich our understanding of the role of human factors in road accidents and consequently develop effective countermeasures to prevent traffic accidents involving motorcycles.

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the effect of yoga based on biorhythm theory on the balance and selective attention in the older women. Methods & Materials A total of 35 older women with mean (SD) age of 61.1(2.8) year were randomly assigned into three groups: yoga based on biorhythm (n=13); yoga (n=13); control (n=11). Static and dynamic balance tests and Vienna system test were applied to measure the study variables. COG test was used to measure the selective attention. One-way ANOVA test was used to analyze data followed by post-hoc Tukey test. Results The results suggested that both motor and cognitive performance, including balance and selective attention were improved significantly (P≤0.05). Conclusion Given the physical and mental weakness of elderly women, practicing yoga exercises are highly recommended in the elderly.

Purpose: The seductive detail effect (SDE) occurs when irrelevant text or images reduce learning of important content. Well established with adults, the SDE also affects children, who may be especially susceptible as they are increasingly surrounded by images meant to engage rather than inform. As research on the SDE in children is just beginning, the mechanisms are unknown. This review aims to propose a principled basis teachers can use to determine whether visuals will help or distract a given child.

Method: This narrative review of studies, identified through computerized database search, summarizes the evidence that working memory load and attention capture underlie the SDE. We propose a mechanistic model of the SDE in adults, argue that it applies to children, and recommend methods for testing this hypothesis.

Conclusions: We predict that children with lower working memory and attention will be more susceptible to the SDE. Such children may be typically developing or have diagnosed conditions, such as learning disabilities (LD), developmental language disorder (DLD), attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). With our model, informed by sufficiently precise data, we can predict from a student's working memory and attention scores how much they will benefit from eliminating extraneous visuals. Such information would help teachers and professionals provide individualized, accessible learning materials.

Based on the observation of the course of callosal fibres and of their artero-venous support as appearing in a microanatomic study, the Authors propose a variant of standard callosotomy procedure by the introduction of the transverse section of callosal fibres. This technique would allow the surgeon to spare a larger number of callosal fibres by the combined effect of a lower direct mechanical traction on fibres and a lower impact on artero-venous microcircle. The neuropsychological outcome of the patients who underwent this kind of procedure was evaluated. Fourteen patients affected by occupying-space lesions involving the anterior and middle third ventricle were included in the study. Ten patients underwent transverse callosotomy, four subjects received standard sagittal callosotomy. A control group was also included in the study. All patients underwent a pre-operative and six months postoperative neuropsychological evaluation focused on performance at cognitive and attentional tasks. No disturbances in executive function were observed in either group. Patients receiving transverse callosotomy performed as well as control group subjects in attentive tasks, which is not the case of patients undergoing sagittal callosotomy who show a marked deficit in selective attention for left side visual field. The observed more favourable neuropsychological outcome supports transverse callosotomy as a valid alternative method to standard longitudinal callosotomy in third ventricle surgery.

Two experiments using event-related potentials (ERPs) examined the extent to which early traumatic experiences affect children's ability to regulate voluntary and involuntary attention to threat. The authors presented physically abused and nonabused comparison children with conflicting auditory and visual emotion cues, posed by children's mothers or a stranger, to examine the effect of emotion, modality, and poser familiarity on attention regulation. Relative to controls, abused children overattended to taskrelevant visual and auditory anger cues. They also attended more to task-irrelevant auditory anger cues. Furthermore, the degree of attention allocated to threat statistically mediated the relationship between physical abuse and child-reported anxiety. These findings indicate that extreme emotional experiences may promote vulnerability for anxiety by influencing the development of attention regulation abilities.

This study investigated subjects with eating disorders' selective attention to linguistic and pictorial representations of food stimuli in a version of the Stroop color-naming task. If subjects with eating disorders' attention really are biased by food stimuli, one would expect equally delayed color-naming latencies to food pictures as previous studies have found to food words.

This study explored possible deficits in selective attention brought about by Dementia of Alzheimer Type (DAT). In three experiments, we tested patients with early DAT, healthy elderly, and young adults under low memory demands to assess perceptual filtering, conflict resolution, and set switching abilities. We found no evidence of impaired perceptual filtering nor evidence of impaired conflict resolution in early DAT. In contrast, early DAT patients did exhibit a global cost in set switching consistent with an inability to maintain the goals of the task (mental set). We discuss these findings in relation to the DAT literature on executive attention, dual-tasking, and working memory.

Two experiments tested listeners' ability to attend selectively to the properties of a physical model comprising collisions between multiple independent sound-producing objects. A probe signal paradigm measured attention to two properties-resonant frequency and number of colliding objects. Listeners completed a baseline task measuring absolute sensitivity at each stimulus against a background noise. Subsequently, stimuli served as both cues and targets; cue validity was probabilistic. When cue and target were generated by the same object (Experiment 1), greater detectability occurred with valid cues for both resonant frequency and object number, implying the presence of attentional mechanisms for these properties. When cue and target were generated by different objects (Experiment 2), selective attention persisted for object number but not for resonant frequency.

Cognitive studies about anxiety suggest that the interplay between automatic and strategic biases in attention to threat is related to the persistence of fear. In the present study, the time-course of attention to pictures with varying threat levels was investigated in high trait anxious (HTA, n ¼ 21) and low trait anxious (LTA, n ¼ 22) students. In a visual probe detection task, high and mild threat pictures were presented at three durations: 100, 500, and 1250 ms. Results indicated that all individuals attended to the high threat pictures for the 100 ms condition. Differential responding between HTA and LTA individuals was found for the 500 ms condition: only HTA individuals showed an attentional bias for mild threatening stimuli. For the 1250 ms condition, the HTA individuals attended away from high and mild threat pictures. The observed pattern of differential attention to threatening pictures may explain the persistence of fear in HTA individuals. r

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the effect of yoga based on biorhythm theory on the balance and selective attention in the older women. Methods & Materials A total of 35 older women with mean (SD) age of 61.1(2.8) year were randomly assigned into three groups: yoga based on biorhythm (n=13); yoga (n=13); control (n=11). Static and dynamic balance tests and Vienna system test were applied to measure the study variables. COG test was used to measure the selective attention. One-way ANOVA test was used to analyze data followed by post-hoc Tukey test. Results The results suggested that both motor and cognitive performance, including balance and selective attention were improved significantly (P≤0.05). Conclusion Given the physical and mental weakness of elderly women, practicing yoga exercises are highly recommended in the elderly.

Attention selectively enhances the influence of neuronal responses conveying information about relevant sensory attributes. Accumulating evidence suggests that this selective neuronal modulation relies on rhythmic synchronization at local and long-range spatial scales: attention selectively synchronizes the rhythmic responses of those neurons that are tuned to the spatial and featural attributes of the attended sensory input. The strength of synchronization is thereby functionally related to perceptual accuracy and behavioural efficiency. Complementing this synchronization at a local level, attention has recently been demonstrated to regulate which locally synchronized neuronal groups phase-synchronize their rhythmic activity across long-range connections. These results point to a general computational role for selective synchronization in dynamically controlling which neurons communicate information about sensory inputs effectively. Addresses Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as: of special interest of outstanding interest 1. Reynolds JH, Chelazzi L: Attentional modulation of visual processing. Annu Rev Neurosci 2004, 27:611-647. 2. Maunsell JH, Treue S: Feature-based attention in visual cortex. Trends Neurosci 2006, 29:317-322. 3. Miller BT, D'Esposito M: Searching for 'the top' in top-down control. Neuron 2005, 48:535-538. 4. Fries P: A mechanism for cognitive dynamics: neuronal communication through neuronal coherence. Trends Cogn Sci 2005, 9:474-480. 5. Fries P, Reynolds JH, Rorie AE, Desimone R: Modulation of oscillatory neuronal synchronization by selective visual attention. Science 2001, 291:1560-1563.

Theoretical and empirical work on the processes by which we attribute dispositional characteristics to others has focused almost exclusively on how such processes proceed once the perceiver has been motivated to initiate them. The problem of identifying the factors which prompt the perceiver to engage in an attributional analysis in the first place has been relatively ignored, even though the influence of such factors may extend beyond the initiation of the causal analysis to affect the manner in which it unfolds and, ultimately, the form and substance of its conclusion. From the assumption that the function of an attributional analysis is effective control of the social environment, it was hypothesized that high outcome dependency upon another, under conditions of high unfamiliarity, is associated with the initiation of an attributional analysis as evidenced by increased attention to the other, better memory of the other's characteristics and behavior, more extreme and confidently given evaluations of the other on a variety of dispositional trait dimensions, and increased attraction to the other. These hypotheses were tested within the context of a study of heterosexual dating relationships in which men and women volunteers anticipated varying degrees of dependence upon another for their dating outcomes. The findings support the view that the data processing operations of the social perceiver-from attention to memory to attribution-are part of a unified whole and may be viewed as manifestations of an underlying motivation to predict and control the social environment.

Rationale. Hypertension is considered a risk factor for the development of cognitive disorders, because of its negative effects on cerebral vasculature and blood flow. Genetically induced hypertension in rats has been associated with a range of cognitive impairments. Therefore, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) can potentially be used as a model for cognitive deficits in human subjects. Consecutively, it can be determined whether certain food components can improve cognition in these rats.

■ Abstract Active behavior problems in children with ADHD are often aggravated in situations which require sustained attention. Building on the 'optimal stimulation' hypothesis , this study explored the effects of color stimulation on graphomotor control in children with ADHD.A sample of 66 children with ADHD (n = 19 from primary education, n = 28 children with additional speech disorders, n = 19 children with additional learning disabilities) and matched controls participated in the investigation. Subjects performed a copying task on standard white and on colored paper in balanced order across classes. Positive effects of the color stimulation on graphomotor behavior control and, consequently, on qualitative aspects of the handwritings were expected. Results broadly confirm the predictions. Effects are explained as added external stimulation facilitating behavioral inhibition and regulation of selective attention and graphomotor coordination. Reduction of visual stress as an alternative explanation is considered.

Stimuli occurring in multiple sensory modalities that are temporally synchronous or spatially coincident can be integrated together to enhance perception. Additionally, the semantic content or meaning of a stimulus can influence cross-modal interactions, improving task performance when these stimuli convey semantically congruent or matching information, but impairing performance when they contain non-matching or distracting information. Attention is one mechanism that is known to alter processing of sensory stimuli by enhancing perception of task-relevant information and suppressing perception of task-irrelevant stimuli. It is not known, however, to what extent attention to a single sensory modality can minimize the impact of stimuli in the unattended sensory modality and reduce the integration of stimuli across multiple sensory modalities. Our hypothesis was that modality-specific selective attention would limit processing of stimuli in the unattended sensory modality, resulting in a reduction of performance enhancements produced by semantically matching multisensory stimuli, and a reduction in performance decrements produced by semantically non-matching multisensory stimuli. The results from two experiments utilizing a cued discrimination task demonstrate that selective attention to a single sensory modality prevents the integration of matching multisensory stimuli that is normally observed when attention is divided between sensory modalities. Attention did not reliably alter the amount of distraction caused by non-matching multisensory stimuli on this task; however, these findings highlight a critical role for modality-specific selective attention in modulating multisensory integration.

This study examined the influence of trait neuroticism and gender on selective attention, under the hypothesis that neurotic individuals would be more likely to direct attention towards stress-related distracters. Eighty-seven undergraduates completed a dichotic listening task paired with visual probes in a dual-task paradigm. The task was to shadow neutral passages in the attended ear and respond to visual probes, while ignoring distracters (neutral, academic stress, or social stress words) in the unattended ear. Analysis of reaction times to the visual probes indicated that, consistent with predictions, neurotic individuals were slower to respond to probes in the presence of stressful distracters, but, counter to predictions, this pattern was only evident in males. High neurotic females exhibited the reverse pattern, responding more quickly to probes in the presence of stressful distracters. Thus, results reveal that the relationship between neuroticism and selective attention bias is moderated by gender, indicating possible gender differences in strategies applied to the task. #

Scholars have used various models of organizational aspirations where aspirations depend on prior performance and the performance of comparable firms. We extend the models to incorporate selective attention. Using direct aspiration measures on sales performance in an automotive manufacturer, we find selective attention influences aspiration levels.

According to D. E. selective filter theory, people do not process unattended stimuli beyond the analysis of basic physical properties. This theory was later rejected on the basis of numerous findings that people identify irrelevant (and supposedly unattended) stimuli. A careful review of this evidence, however, reveals strong reasons to doubt that these irrelevant stimuli were in fact unattended. This review exposed a clear need for new experiments with tight control over the locus of attention. The authors present 5 such experiments using a priming paradigm. When steps were taken to ensure that irrelevant stimuli were not attended, these stimuli produced no priming effects. Hence, the authors found no evidence that unattended stimuli can be identified. The results support a modern version of Broadbent's selective theory, updated to reflect recent research advances.

Research shows abnormal function of the pre-frontal cortex in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This cortex is involved in the control of executive functions related to planning and execution of goal-oriented strategies, working memory, inhibitions, cognitive flexibility, and selective attention. Selective attention involves focus on the target stimulus, ignoring competing distractions. The Stroop Test is usually used to evaluate selective attention. This study investigated whether children with ADHD could exhibit modified performance in the Stroop Test. Using a computerized version of this test , the study compared the reaction times (RTs) of 62 Brazilian children, between 8 and 12 years of age, 31 of whom were diagnosed with ADHD and sent to psychiatric clinics, and 31 without ADHD studying in regular schools. All children with ADHD satisfied the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR and were evaluated with the Conners Abbreviated Questionnaire , completed by parents and teachers. The results revealed that children with ADHD exhibit greater interference in RT than children without ADHD. This corroborated the hypothesis that children with ADHD exhibit a deficit in selective attention, consisting in augmented RTs, as measured by the Computerized Stroop Test.

The color word Stroop test is the most common tool used to assess selective attention in persons with traumatic brain
injury (TBI). A larger Stroop effect for TBI patients, as compared to controls, is generally interpreted as reflecting a
decrease in selective attention. Alternatively, it has been suggested that this increase in Stroop effects is influenced by
group differences in generalized speed of processing (SOP). The current study describes an overview and meta-analysis
of 10 studies, where persons with TBI (N5324) were compared to matched controls (N5501) on the Stroop task. The
findings confirmed that Stroop interference was significantly larger for TBI groups (p5.008). However, these differences
may be strongly biased by TBI-related slowdown in generalized SOP (r25.81 in a Brinley analysis). We also found that
TBI-related changes in sensory processing may affect group differences. Mainly, a TBI-related increase in the latency
difference between reading and naming the font color of a color-neutral word (r25.96) was linked to Stroop effects. Our
results suggest that, in using Stroop, it seems prudent to control for both sensory factors and SOP to differentiate potential
changes in selective attention from other changes following TBI.

Many theories of social construction make some reference to sight, yet few offer sustained examinations of perception. In light of this, I highlight the visual dimension of the social construction of reality by analyzing visual perception as a process of ‘socio-mental filtration’. Building on theories of social construction — most notably those using the concepts ‘frame’, ‘paradigm’ and ‘schema’ — in which expectations are the organizing force of experience, I focus on how social construction happens. One key effect of expectations is to enact selective attention, which is evocatively captured by the metaphor of a filter. Drawing on the case of sex and gender, I demonstrate that using filter analysis to identify the specific dynamics of ‘socio-optical construction’ — adding a concrete analysis of visual perception to the general idea of social construction — may help scholars to more effectively account for some of the ‘hard problems’ of constructionist theory, such as the body.

We review and relate two literatures on the development of attention in children: one concerning flexible attention switching and the other concerning selective attention. The first is a growing literature on preschool children's performances in an attentionswitching task indicating that children become more flexible in their attentional control during the preschool years. The second literature encompasses a large and robust set of phenomena for the same developmental period that indicates a protracted course of development for selective attention in children. We ask whether developmental changes in processes of selective attention may contribute to more flexible attention switching. We consider the two sets of phenomena with respect to this question and propose an empirical agenda for their joint study that may lead ultimately to a unified account of the development of selective attention and attention switching.

Research published by University of Rochester neuroscientists C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier [Green and Bavelier, 2003] has grabbed national attention for suggesting that playing "action" video and computer games has the positive effect of enhancing students' visual selective attention. But that finding is just one small part of a more important message that all parents and educators need to hear: Video games are not the enemy, but the best opportunity we have to engage our kids in real learning.

This paper aims at giving an overview of the first phase of my PhD project, an interdisciplinary study on working memory and selective attention in interpreting. The research questions are whether these skills improve through interpreting exercise. The subjects of the study are students of the Master’s Degree in Interpreting of the University of Bologna. Six tests aim at measuring working memory and they include five verbal memory tests from the Tests of memory and learning (TOMAL) and an N-Back Task. Furthermore, three tests were used to measure selective attention: a dichotic listening test, a Flanker task and a Stroop task. Students took the tests at the beginning of their Master’s degree, in the middle and at the end. Comparing the test results of the same people over time aims at seeing how the average learning curve looks like and making considerations that may be useful for teaching interpreting.

Laboratory research suggests that the processing of painful stimuli can be modulated by selective attention to a particular sensory modality. However, alternative accounts for previous findings remain possible in terms of task-switching and spatial attention effects. In the present study, we examined whether attention can be selectively directed to the pain modality in order to facilitate the processing of the sensory-discriminative aspects of painful laser heat stimuli when these alternatives were ruled out. Participants made speeded spatial discrimination responses to an unpredictable sequence of painful laser heat and visual stimuli presented on the left forearm. On each trial, a symbolic cue predicted the likely modality for the upcoming target on the majority of trials. Participants responded more rapidly when the target was presented in the expected as opposed to the unexpected modality, demonstrating that selective attention can modulate the processing of painful stimuli. These findings are discussed in relation to contemporary theories of crossmodal attention and multisensory information-processing.

We first show that in a word-translation task, context words induce semantic interference whereas context pictures induce semantic facilitation. Experiments 2 and 3 show that this finding is not due to differences between context words and context pictures in terms of (a) relative speed of lexical activation or (b) the category level of the activated concepts. To account for our findings, we propose that conceptually-driven lexical access is confined to the selected target concept (or ''preverbal message''). A version of Starreveld and La HeijÕs (1996) connectionist model in which this proposal was implemented successfully simulated the polarity and the time course of the semantic context effects observed. In Experiment 4 the prediction that context pictures do not induce lexical context effects was tested and confirmed.

We conducted a counterbalanced repeated measure trial to investigate the effect of different internal and external associative strategies on endurance performance. Seventeen college-aged students were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions to test the notion that different attention-performance types (optimal Type 1, functional Type 2, and dysfunctional Type 3) would influence endurance time on a cycling task. Specifically, Type 1 represented an effortless and automatic, “flow-feeling” attentional mode. Type 2 referred to an associative focus directed at core components of the task. Type 3 represented an attentional focus directed at irrelevant components of the task. Participants completed three time-to-exhaustion-tests while reporting their perceived exertion and affective states (arousal and hedonic tone). Results revealed that Type 1 and Type 2 attentional strategies, compared with Type 3 strategy, exerted functional effects on performance, whereas a Type 3 strategy ...

Consciousness remains an elusive concept due to the dif®culty to de®ne what has been regarded for many years as a subjective experience, therefore irrelevant for scienti®c study. Recent development in this ®eld of research has allowed to provide some new insight to a possible way to de®ne consciousness. Going through the extensive literature in this domain, several perspectives are proposed to de®ne this concept.