Spatiotemporal dynamics of attention: formalization and flash-lag phenomena

• Grant number: 06/50189-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2006
• End date: May 31, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Marcus Vinícius Chrysóstomo Baldo
• Grantee: Peter Maurice Erna Claessens
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The nature of the spatial distribution of attention across the visual field is still a hotly debated topic. Mathematical modeling in this field, especially when temporal dynamics are included, is in an early stage. Yet, a more thorough knowledge of the spatiotemporal properties of attention is necessary to advance the understanding of its role in the flash-lag effect (FLE). The FLE is a visual illusion in which an observer perceives the position of an abrupt stationary flash as being behind a continuously moving object at the same location. In this project, we propose a generic model of spatiotemporal distribution of attention that will guide the interpretation of experimental data from a paradigm designed to explore spatiotemporal attentional dynamics in a simple display with two flashes. In Experiment 1, we investigate the speed of attentional reallocation for flashes with a fixed distance. In Experiment 2, we introduce manipulations to test whether attentional reallocation is slowed by larger distances. In Experiment 3, we make the connection to the FLE in a paradigm that involves a continuously present stimulus element, to be compared with a flash at different distances. The data will serve to scrutinize the interaction between endogenously maintained attention and exogenously drawn attention. Conclusions lead to predictions about the magnitude of the FLE under different conditions. We seek to eventually extend the dynamics of the FLE to similar phenomena that are non-spatial in nature. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CLAESSENS, PETER M. E.; PEREIRA, LUCAS OLIVEIRA; BALDO, MARCUS VINICIUS C.. Modulation of perceived contrast in the brightness comparison of asynchronous stimuli. ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS, v. 77, n. 1, p. 234-248, JAN 2015. (06/50189-9)

CRAVO, ANDRE M.; CLAESSENS, PETER M. E.; BALDO, MARCUS V. C.. Voluntary action and causality in temporal binding. Experimental Brain Research, v. 199, n. 1, p. 95-99, OCT 2009. (06/50189-9)