Motion visual perception influence on a decision making task performance

• Grant number: 15/20846-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Renato Teodoro Ramos
• Grantee: Jessica Barreira Alves Falkenstein
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The human interaction with the environment can be described as a series of tasks which performance is affected by a variety of factors. The neurocognitive demand for resources, for example, is proportional to the number of elements to be considered in this interaction. The limitations of mental performance due to the limited resources for processing parallel information have been described through a mechanism of "bottleneck". Attention, a cognitive function related to selection of information, exhibits this type of functional dynamics. In the bottleneck attentional model, the occurrence of simultaneous operations involving the same sensory and cognitive mechanisms leads to interference patterns observable in terms of accuracy and response times. This project aims to evaluate the interaction between attentional mechanisms involved in processing environmental information and decision-making activities. A paradigm of binary choice - two exclusive alternatives with different potential reward (Victorino, 2012) - will be adapted to be presented in a virtual environment where the context in which the task will be carried out will consist of visual elements of movement. It is expected that the flexibility of virtual reality allows the study of interference patterns between the decision-making processes in environments with distractors associated to visual movement. As evidence of this type of mechanism has been reported in studies with anxious individuals, it is expected that the results may contribute to the improvement of pathophysiological models of anxiety disorders, especially phobias and panic attacks.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FALKENSTEIN, Jessica Barreira Alves. The influence of visual movement perception on performance in decision-making task. 2018. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Psicologia (IP/SBD) São Paulo.