Gene M. Heyman, Jaime Montemayor, Katherine A. Grisanzio
Abstract
In a recent paper, we introduced a method and equation for inferring the allocation of attention on a continuous scale. The size of the stimuli, the estimated size of the fovea, and the pattern of results implied that the subjects' responses reflected shifts in covert attention rather than shifts in eye movements. This report describes an experiment that tests this implication. We measured eye movements. The monitor briefly displayed (e.g., 130 ms) two small stimuli (≈1.0° × 1.2°), situated one atop another. When the stimuli were close together, as in the previous study, fixations that supported correct responses at one stimulus also supported correct responses at the other stimulus, as measured over the entire session. Yet, on any particular trial, correct responses were limited to just one stimulus. This pattern suggests that the constraints on responding within a trial were due to limits on cognitive processing, whereas the ability to respond correctly to either stimulus on different trials must have entailed shifts in attention (that were not accompanied by eye movements). In contrast, when the stimuli were far apart, fixations that had a high probability of supporting correct responses at one stimulus had a low probability of supporting correct responses at the other stimulus. Thus, conditions could be arranged so that correct responses depended on eye movements, whereas in the "standard" procedure, correct responses were independent of eye movements. The results dissociate covert and overt attention and support the claim that our procedure measures covert attention.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 May 2017.
All research outputs
#6,942,002
of 24,903,209 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Psychology
#9,899
of 33,612 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#102,783
of 318,874 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Psychology
#260
of 622 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,903,209 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 33,612 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 13.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 318,874 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 622 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 58% of its contemporaries.
