In a crowded visual scene, attention must be distributed efficiently and flexibly over time and space to accommodate different contexts. It is well established that selective attention enhances the corresponding neural responses, presumably implying that attention would persistently dwell on the task-relevant item. Meanwhile, recent studies, mostly in divided attentional contexts, suggest that ...

Helmholtz1 and William James2 each noted the potential dissociation between the point of gaze fixation and the focus of attention within the field of view. More recently, this phenomenon has been compared to a ‘spotlight’ that evokes attentional enhancement of visual information within a circumscribed region of visual space or within the confines of a target object3–5. Information inside the sp...

Attentional ability in 19 survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and 19 sibling controls was assessed using a neuropsychological model of attention. Analysis revealed that children who had received treatment for leukaemia exhibited significantly poorer performance on measures of the "focus encode" and "focus execute" elements of attention and on measures of the ability to respond to externa...

Cognitive-attentional factors may moderate emotion deficits associated with psychopathy (Newman & Lorenz, 2003). This study examined the role of these factors in moderating fear-potentiated startle (FPS) as a function of Fearless Dominance and Impulsive Antisociality-personality dimensions with links to psychopathy. University students performed a task that required them to focus on a (a) threa...

How quickly can we shift the focus of visual attention? We compared the rates of two types of attentional shifts: attentional saccades (shifts between objects) and attentional pursuit (shifts along with a moving object). Instead of measuring the time required for a single shift, which confounds shift time with cue interpretation time, we measured the pace at which observers could make multiple ...

In the second paper on the Rating Scale for Psychotic Symptoms (RSPS), distraction symptoms (Subscale 2) and delusions (Subscale 3) are described. Subscale 2 includes distraction symptoms, which arise from one of two mechanisms: the symptom may arise either by loss of attentional focus (LAF) due to a competing channel of information, or by the intrusion of the competing channel into the focus o...

The present paper discusses attentional focus in motor learning and performance from the point of view of mindful movement practices, taking as a starting point the Feldenkrais method. It is argued that earlier criticism of the Feldenkrais method (and thereby implicitly of mindful movement practices more generally) because of allegedly inappropriate attentional focus turns out to be unfounded i...

The allocation of visual attention is a key factor for the humans when operating complex systems under time pressure with multiple information sources. In some situations, attentional tunneling is likely to appear and leads to excessive focus and poor decision making. In this study, we propose a formal approach to detect the occurrence of such an attentional impairment that is based on machine ...

Confirmatory factor analyses supported the plausibility of a 10-factor model of the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS-R; Windle & Lerner, 1986) with a sample of 975 teenagers. Simultaneous group models across gender indicated an invariant pattern for factor loadings and factor intercorrelations. Internal consistency estimates and test-retest stability were moderately high for the 1...