Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 565-577 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Social neuroscience |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Apr 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
When acting and attending together, we take each other's perceptual and intentional relations to the environment into account. The present study investigated whether people are also sensitive to a co-actor's attentional relation to jointly attended events. Two participants sat next to each other and performed a two-choice Navon task, responding to the identity of letters formed by identical (congruent) or different (incongruent) smaller letters while EEG was recorded. Crucially, participants either held the same focus of attention (e.g., both attending to local stimulus features) or different foci of attention (e.g., one attending to local and the other to global features). Results revealed a significant slow-down of responses when participants focused on different features. Amplitudes of the occipital P1 and parietal occipital P3 decreased when attentional foci differed. The amplitude of the fronto-central N2 increased when the other attended to local as compared to global features. These results suggest that representations of a co-actor's task can include a specification of his or her focus of attention. Taking into account the other's different attentional relation to stimuli likely induces a conflict at the level of task selection, impairing early allocation of attention (P1) and enhancing the need to monitor response initiation (P3).
Keywords
- Focus of attention, Joint attention, Perspective taking, Task co-representation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Social Psychology
- Social Sciences(all)
- Development
- Neuroscience(all)
- Behavioral Neuroscience
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In: Social neuroscience, Vol. 7, No. 6, 24.04.2012, p. 565-577.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A co-actor's focus of attention affects stimulus processing and task performance
T2 - An ERP study
AU - Böckler, Anne
AU - Sebanz, Natalie
PY - 2012/4/24
Y1 - 2012/4/24
N2 - When acting and attending together, we take each other's perceptual and intentional relations to the environment into account. The present study investigated whether people are also sensitive to a co-actor's attentional relation to jointly attended events. Two participants sat next to each other and performed a two-choice Navon task, responding to the identity of letters formed by identical (congruent) or different (incongruent) smaller letters while EEG was recorded. Crucially, participants either held the same focus of attention (e.g., both attending to local stimulus features) or different foci of attention (e.g., one attending to local and the other to global features). Results revealed a significant slow-down of responses when participants focused on different features. Amplitudes of the occipital P1 and parietal occipital P3 decreased when attentional foci differed. The amplitude of the fronto-central N2 increased when the other attended to local as compared to global features. These results suggest that representations of a co-actor's task can include a specification of his or her focus of attention. Taking into account the other's different attentional relation to stimuli likely induces a conflict at the level of task selection, impairing early allocation of attention (P1) and enhancing the need to monitor response initiation (P3).
AB - When acting and attending together, we take each other's perceptual and intentional relations to the environment into account. The present study investigated whether people are also sensitive to a co-actor's attentional relation to jointly attended events. Two participants sat next to each other and performed a two-choice Navon task, responding to the identity of letters formed by identical (congruent) or different (incongruent) smaller letters while EEG was recorded. Crucially, participants either held the same focus of attention (e.g., both attending to local stimulus features) or different foci of attention (e.g., one attending to local and the other to global features). Results revealed a significant slow-down of responses when participants focused on different features. Amplitudes of the occipital P1 and parietal occipital P3 decreased when attentional foci differed. The amplitude of the fronto-central N2 increased when the other attended to local as compared to global features. These results suggest that representations of a co-actor's task can include a specification of his or her focus of attention. Taking into account the other's different attentional relation to stimuli likely induces a conflict at the level of task selection, impairing early allocation of attention (P1) and enhancing the need to monitor response initiation (P3).
KW - Focus of attention
KW - Joint attention
KW - Perspective taking
KW - Task co-representation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866314732&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17470919.2012.682119
DO - 10.1080/17470919.2012.682119
M3 - Article
C2 - 22524148
AN - SCOPUS:84866314732
VL - 7
SP - 565
EP - 577
JO - Social neuroscience
JF - Social neuroscience
SN - 1747-0919
IS - 6
ER -