Between-object superiority in divided attention

Divided attention in music

Two models have been advanced to account for the apparent ease with which attention can be divided in music: a `̀ divided attention’ ’ model postulates that listeners effectively manage to follow two or more melodic lines played simultaneously. According to a `̀ ® gure-ground model,’’ the harmonic coherence of Western polyphonies allows a listener to focus on one melody while staying aware of the...

Divided attention limits perception of 3-D object shapes.

Can one perceive multiple object shapes at once? We tested two benchmark models of object shape perception under divided attention: an unlimited-capacity and a fixed-capacity model. Under unlimited-capacity models, shapes are analyzed independently and in parallel. Under fixed-capacity models, shapes are processed at a fixed rate (as in a serial model). To distinguish these models, we compared ...

The Correlation Between Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation and Divided Attention

Divided attention between simultaneous auditory and visual signals.

Past studies of simultaneous attention to pairs of visual stimuli have used the "dual-task" paradigm to show that identification of the direction of a change in luminance, whether incremental or decremental, is "capacity-limited," while simple detection of these changes is governed by "capacity-free" processes. On the basis of that finding, it has been suggested that the contrast between identi...

Attention and Visual Perception: Analyzing Divided Attention

Attention is one of the most active areas of experimental research in cognitive science. This chapter focuses on an aspect of attention that has been studied intensively over the past twenty-five years or so: capacity limitations on our ability to perceive multiple visual inputs. The basic questions are simple but far-reaching. How much visual information can we take in at one time? What can we...