When tracking multiple moving targets among visually similar distractors, human observers are capable of distributing attention over several spatial locations. It is unclear, however, whether capacity limitations or perceptual-cognitive abilities are responsible for the development of expertise in multiple object tracking. Across two experiments, we examined the role of working memory and visual attention in tracking expertise. In Experiment 1, individuals who regularly engaged in object tracking sports (soccer and rugby) displayed improved tracking performance, relative to non-tracking sports (swimming, rowing, running) (p = 0.02, η p 2 = 0.163), but no differences in gaze strategy (ps > 0.31). In Experiment 2, participants trained on an adaptive object tracking task showed improved tracking performance (p = 0.005, d = 0.817), but no changes in gaze strategy (ps > 0.07). They did, however, show significant improvement in a working memory transfer task (p < 0.001, d = 0.970). These findings indicate that the development of tracking expertise is more closely linked to processing capacity limits than perceptual-cognitive strategies.
Starting procedures in racing sports consist of a warning (e.g., “Set”) followed by a target (e.g., “Go”) signal. During this interval (the foreperiod), athletes engage in temporal preparation whereby they prepare to respond to the target as quickly as possible. Despite a long history, the cognitive mechanisms underlying this process are debated. Recently, it has been suggested that traces of previous temporal durations drive temporal preparation performance rather than the traditional explanation that performance is related to the currently perceived hazard function. Los and colleagues used visual stimuli for the warning and target signals. As racing sports typically rely upon auditory stimuli, we investigated the role of memory on temporal preparation in the auditory domain. Experiment 1 investigated long-term transfer effects. In an acquisition phase, two groups of participants were exposed to different foreperiod distributions. One week later, during a transfer phase, both groups received the same distribution of foreperiods. There was no evidence for transfer effects. Therefore, Experiment 2 examined short-term transfer effects in which acquisition and transfer phases were completed in the same testing session. There was some evidence for transfer effects, but this was limited, suggesting that there may be modality-specific memory differences.
In standard multiple object tracking (MOT) tasks the relative importance of the targets being tracked is equal. This is atypical of everyday situations in which an individual may need to prioritize one target relative to another and so allocate attention unequally. We report three experiments that examined whether participants could unequally split attention using a modified MOT task in which target priority was manipulated. Specifically, we examined the effect of priority on participants’ magnitude of error and used a distribution mixture analysis to investigate how priority affected both participants’ probability of losing an item and tracking precision. Experiment 1 (trajectory tracking) revealed a higher magnitude of error and higher proportion of guessing for low- compared with high-priority targets. Experiments 2 (trajectory tracking) and 3 (position tracking) examined how fine-grained this ability is by manipulating target priority at finer increments. In line with Experiment 1 , results from both these experiments indicated that participants could split attention unequally. There was some evidence that participants could allocate attention unequally at fine increments, but this was less conclusive. Taken together, these experiments demonstrate participants’ ability to distribute attention unequally across multiple moving objects but suggest some limitation with the flexibility of attention allocation.
When making goal-directed movements toward a target, our hand deviates from its path in the direction of sudden background motion. We propose that this manual following response arises because ongoing movements are constantly guided toward the planned movement endpoint. Such guidance is needed to compensate for modest, unexpected self-motion. Our proposal is that the compensation for such self-motion does not involve a sophisticated analysis of the global optic flow. Instead, we propose that any motion in the vicinity of the planned endpoint is attributed to the endpoint's egocentric position having shifted in the direction of the motion. The ongoing movement is then stabilized relative to the shifted endpoint. In six experiments, we investigate what aspects of motion determine this shift of planned endpoint. We asked participants to intercept a moving target when it reached a certain area. During the target's motion, background structures briefly moved either leftward or rightward. Participants’ hands responded to background motion even when each background structure was only briefly visible or when the vast majority of background structures remained static. The response was not restricted to motion along the target's path but was most sensitive to motion close to where the target was to be hit, both in the visual field and in depth. In this way, a movement stabilization mechanism provides a comprehensive explanation of many aspects of the manual following response.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.