Training attention: Interactions between central cues and reflexive attention

Training attention: Interactions between central cues and reflexive attention

Interactions between attention and memory.

Attention and memory cannot operate without each other. In this review, we discuss two lines of recent evidence that support this interdependence. First, memory has a limited capacity, and thus attention determines what will be encoded. Division of attention during encoding prevents the formation of conscious memories, although the role of attention in formation of unconscious memories is more ...

Attention training and attention state training.

The ability to attend and to exercise cognitive control are vital aspects of human adaptability. Several studies indicate that attention training using computer based exercises can lead to improved attention in children and adults. Randomized control studies of exposure to nature, mindfulness and integrative body-mind training (IBMT) yield improved attention and self-regulation. Here, we ask ho...

Rapid and reflexive feature-based attention.

Performance on a visual task is improved when attention is directed to relevant spatial locations or specific visual features. Spatial attention can be directed either voluntarily (endogenously) or automatically (exogenously). However, feature-based attention has only been shown to operate endogenously. Here, we show that an exogenous cue to a visual feature can lead to improved performance in ...

Reflexive Social Attention in Monkeys and Humans

For humans, social cues often guide the focus of attention. Although many nonhuman primates, like humans, live in large, complex social groups, the extent to which human and nonhuman primates share fundamental mechanisms of social attention remains unexplored. Here, we show that, when viewing a rhesus macaque looking in a particular direction, both rhesus macaques and humans reflexively and cov...