Entirely irrelevant distractors can capture and captivate attention

Forster, Sophie; Lavie, Nilli

doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0172-z

Cited by 41 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Many studies have examined performance regarding unattended stimuli (e.g., [37], [38], [39]). The responses to the unattended conversation in this study were stronger than those in some studies [34], [39], [40].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Cell Phone Conversations on the Attention and Memory of Bystanders

2013

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The pervasive use of cell phones impacts many people–both cell phone users and bystanders exposed to conversations. This study examined the effects of overhearing a one-sided (cell phone) conversation versus a two-sided conversation on attention and memory. In our realistic design, participants were led to believe they were participating in a study examining the relationship between anagrams and reading comprehension. While the participant was completing an anagram task, the researcher left the room and participants overheard a scripted conversation, either two confederates talking with each other or one confederate talking on a cell phone. Upon the researcher’s return, the participant took a recognition memory task with words from the conversation, and completed a questionnaire measuring the distracting nature of the conversation. Participants who overheard the one-sided conversation rated the conversation as significantly higher in distractibility than those who overheard the two-sided conversation. Also, participants in the one-sided condition scored higher on the recognition task. In particular they were more confident and accurate in their responses to words from the conversation than participants in the two-sided condition. However, participants’ scores on the anagram task were not significantly different between conditions. As in real world situations, individual participants could pay varying amounts of attention to the conversation since they were not explicitly instructed to ignore it. Even though the conversation was irrelevant to the anagram task and contained less words and noise, one-sided conversations still impacted participants’ self-reported distractibility and memory, thus showing people are more attentive to cell phone conversations than two-sided conversations. Cell phone conversations may be a common source of distraction causing negative consequences in workplace environments and other public places.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Cell Phone Conversations on the Attention and Memory of Bystanders

2013

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Section: Irrelevant Distraction: External Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent series of studies by Forster and Lavie (2008a,b, 2011) (see Figure 1C) introduced a new measure designed to meet these criteria. These studies have demonstrated robust RT slowing in the presence, versus absence, of a colorful distractor image (e.g., of the cartoon character Spiderman) across two different task types: a letter search (Forster and Lavie, 2008a,b) and a sequential forced-choice response task (Forster and Lavie, 2011; Figure 2). Irrelevant distractor interference has been found for meaningless (a colorful shape) and frequently presented (50% trials) stimuli, but was greater for semantically meaningful (e.g., a famous cartoon character) and infrequently presented (10% trials) stimuli (Forster and Lavie, 2008b, see also Biggs et al, 2012 for further examination of effects of meaningfulness on irrelevant distraction).…”

Section: Irrelevant Distraction: External Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distraction and Mind-Wandering Under Load

Forster¹

2013

Front. Psychol.

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Attention research over the last several decades has provided rich insights into the determinants of distraction, including distractor characteristics, task features, and individual differences. Load Theory represented a particularly important breakthrough, highlighting the critical role of the level and nature of task-load in determining both the efficiency of distractor rejection and the stage of processing at which this occurs. However, until recently studies of distraction were restricted to those measuring rather specific forms of distraction by external stimuli which I argue that, although intended to be irrelevant, were in fact task-relevant. In daily life, attention may be distracted by a wide range of stimuli, which may often be entirely unrelated to any task being performed, and may include not only external stimuli but also internally generated stimuli such as task-unrelated thoughts. This review outlines recent research examining these more general, entirely task-irrelevant, forms of distraction within the framework of Load Theory. I discuss the relation between different forms of distraction, and the universality of load effects across different distractor types and individuals.

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“…However, when participants could not anticipate the presence of a face (as in Experiments 1a/b), an extended attentional dwell on the faces could not be avoided. Of note, and unlike previous studies of distraction (e.g., Forster & Lavie, 2011), our study isolated the holding of attention by the presence of a distractor stimulus from attentional effects triggered by the offset of that stimulus. By using a relatively long stimulus duration (4 s), we ensured that the abrupt offset of the stimulus, which can automatically capture attention in a manner similar to an abrupt onset (Miller, 1989), would be unlikely to interfere with our measure of attentional dwell time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The persistence of distraction: A study of attentional biases by fear, faces, and context

2014

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Efficient processing of the visual world requires that distracting items be avoided, or at least rapidly disengaged from. The mechanisms by which highly salient, yet irrelevant, stimuli lead to distraction, however, are not well understood. Here, we utilized a particularly strong type of distractor--images of human faces--to investigate the mechanisms of distraction and the involuntarily biasing of attention. Across three experiments using a novel discrimination task, we provided new evidence that the robust distraction triggered by faces may not reflect enhanced attraction but, instead, may reflect an extended holding of attention. Specifically, the onset of a task-irrelevant distractor initially impaired target performance regardless of the identity of that distractor (fearful faces, neutral faces, or places). In contrast, an extended period of distraction was observed only when the distractor was a face. Our results thus demonstrate two distinct mechanisms contributing to distraction: an initial involuntary capture to any sudden event and a subsequent holding of attention to a potentially meaningful, yet task-irrelevant stimulus-in this case, a human face. Critically, the latter holding of attention by faces was not unique to fearful faces but also occurred for neutral faces. The present results dissociate attentional capture from hold in another way as well, since the capture occurred regardless of the nature of the distractors, but the extended holding of attention was dependent upon the ongoing distractor context.

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Entirely irrelevant distractors can capture and captivate attention

Cited by 41 publications

References 18 publications

The Effects of Cell Phone Conversations on the Attention and Memory of Bystanders

The Effects of Cell Phone Conversations on the Attention and Memory of Bystanders

Distraction and Mind-Wandering Under Load

The persistence of distraction: A study of attentional biases by fear, faces, and context

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