On the Cognitive and Behavioral Frontiers: The Role of Visual Attention in Basic Psychological Processes, Symbol Formation, and Language Development

• Grant number: 24/05795-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Gerson Aparecido Yukio Tomanari
• Grantee: Gerson Aparecido Yukio Tomanari
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Marcelo Salvador Caetano
• Associated researchers: Álvaro Júnior Melo e Silva ; Antonio Jaeger ; Edson Massayuki Huziwara ; Giovan Willian Ribeiro ; João Lucas Bernardy Cardoso ; Katerina Lukasova ; Marcus Bentes de Carvalho Neto ; Paula Debert ; Rafael Diego Modenesi ; Renato Bortoloti ; Romariz da Silva Barros

Abstract

The thematic project, under the responsibility of a team of researchers in various specializations within Experimental Psychology, aims to investigate cognitive and behavioral processes from the perspective of visual attention, regarded as a underlying process to basic psychological processes (learning, perception, emotion, and memory) that accompany symbolic formation and language development, in individuals with typical development and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Eye movements can be analyzed as a behavioral model of visual attention. They are susceptible to learning processes and affected by the contingencies they are exposed to, that is, by the stimuli that precede them, as well as by the visual consequences they produce. Previous studies with monkeys and humans have shown that eye movements can be adaptively modified in response to reinforcement schedules, influencing parameters such as latency, amplitude, and trajectory of the movements. This suggests a mechanism by which motor response and visual attention can be established and modified in learning processes. In the project, visual attention is understood as an integral component of different basic psychological processes, such as memory, emotion, learning, perception. Thus, it comprises a series of 12 experiments, throughout which it examines how eye movements and visual attention are related to stimulus selection, time perception, effects of emotional stimuli on memory, and the formation of stimulus classes. This innovative approach aims not only to advance in theoretical and methodological understanding of psychology and neuroscience but also to offer innovative perspectives on practical applications, especially in education and in the development of therapies for cognitive and linguistic disorders. The project is structured into three main research lines: LP1 - basic psychological processes of attention, perception, emotion, and memory; LP2 - discriminative learning and relational responding; and LP3 - reading teaching and language development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Within these research lines, the project encompasses a wide range of subprojects, each focused on specific aspects of visual attention and its interaction with cognitive and behavioral processes. The project will explore how reinforcement schemes can produce superselective attention, the relationship between eye movements and time perception, and how attention and memory are affected by emotional stimuli. Moreover, it will investigate contextual control in discriminative learning, the role of eye movements in the formation of verbal relations, and the development of language and cognition in children with ASD. With the integration of diverse specialties and a varied set of experimental methodologies, visual attention underpins this thematic project which is expected to bring significant contributions to the understanding of the complex interaction between visual attention, eye movements, and cognitive and behavioral processes, with direct implications for the improvement of education, clinical therapies, and behavioral interventions. (AU)