Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1404-1415 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Coactors take into account certain aspects of each other's tasks even when this is not required to perform their own task. The present experiments investigated whether the way a coactor allocates attention affects one's own attentional relation to stimuli that are attended jointly (Experiment 1), individually (Experiment 2), or in parallel (Experiments 3 and 4). Pairs of participants sitting next to each other performed a two-choice Navon task, responding to the identity of letters. Participants' tasks either required 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, suggesting that the coactor's attentional focus induced a conflict that affected the selection of one's own focus. This effect disappeared when no other person was present, and when mutual visual access to each other's stimuli was disrupted, but did not depend on a triangular relationship between participants and stimuli. Our findings extend previous research on joint attention and task corepresentation in revealing that representations of a coactor's task can include a specification of her focus of attention.
Keywords
- Focus of attention, Joint attention, Navon task, Task corepresentation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Neuroscience(all)
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 38, No. 6, 2012, p. 1404-1415.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of a coactor's focus of attention on task performance
AU - Böckler, Anne
AU - Knoblich, Günther
AU - Sebanz, Natalie
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Coactors take into account certain aspects of each other's tasks even when this is not required to perform their own task. The present experiments investigated whether the way a coactor allocates attention affects one's own attentional relation to stimuli that are attended jointly (Experiment 1), individually (Experiment 2), or in parallel (Experiments 3 and 4). Pairs of participants sitting next to each other performed a two-choice Navon task, responding to the identity of letters. Participants' tasks either required 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, suggesting that the coactor's attentional focus induced a conflict that affected the selection of one's own focus. This effect disappeared when no other person was present, and when mutual visual access to each other's stimuli was disrupted, but did not depend on a triangular relationship between participants and stimuli. Our findings extend previous research on joint attention and task corepresentation in revealing that representations of a coactor's task can include a specification of her focus of attention.
AB - Coactors take into account certain aspects of each other's tasks even when this is not required to perform their own task. The present experiments investigated whether the way a coactor allocates attention affects one's own attentional relation to stimuli that are attended jointly (Experiment 1), individually (Experiment 2), or in parallel (Experiments 3 and 4). Pairs of participants sitting next to each other performed a two-choice Navon task, responding to the identity of letters. Participants' tasks either required 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, suggesting that the coactor's attentional focus induced a conflict that affected the selection of one's own focus. This effect disappeared when no other person was present, and when mutual visual access to each other's stimuli was disrupted, but did not depend on a triangular relationship between participants and stimuli. Our findings extend previous research on joint attention and task corepresentation in revealing that representations of a coactor's task can include a specification of her focus of attention.
KW - Focus of attention
KW - Joint attention
KW - Navon task
KW - Task corepresentation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84872341005&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0027523
DO - 10.1037/a0027523
M3 - Article
C2 - 22409143
AN - SCOPUS:84872341005
VL - 38
SP - 1404
EP - 1415
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
SN - 0096-1523
IS - 6
ER -