Attention is biased toward features aligning with task goals and stimuli previously allocated attentional priority (selection history). The relationship between selection history and the strategic control of attention has scarcely been explored. In the present study, we utilized a modified version of the Adaptive Choice Visual Search (ACVS) task…

Motor performance has been shown to be superior when focusing on a physically farther environmental cue (external focus-far, EF-far) instead of a cue proximal to the body (EF-near). However, little is known about whether these foci affect bimanual tasks. Further, the effect of visual information on attentional focus is unclear. In the present…

Impairments in joint attention are considered core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are crucial for early assessment and intervention. However, existing information about visual attention during joint attention and its relation to developmental functioning is limited. The current study investigated the visual attention differences…

Previous studies on value-driven attentional capture (VDAC) have demonstrated that the uncertainty of reward value modulates attentional allocation via associative learning. However, it is unclear whether such attentional exploration is executed based on the amount of potential reward information available for refining value prediction or the…

Mouse pointing can effectively guide students to pay attention to the relevant information on slides that an instructor is verbally dearth of studies systematically examining the role of mouse pointing in instructional videos. To address this gap, the present study aims to test the impact of different types of mouse pointing (continuous pointing…

The ability to shield against distraction while focusing on a task requires the operation of executive functions and is essential for successful learning. We investigated the short-term dynamics of distraction control in a data set of 269 children aged 4-10 years and 51 adults pooled from three studies using multilevel models. Participants…

There is growing consensus that selection history strongly guides spatial attention and is distinct from current goals and physical salience. Here, we focused on target-location probability cueing: when the target is more likely to appear in one region, search performance gradually improves for targets appearing in that region. Probability cueing…

Previous research suggests that children's ability to label visual features (e.g. "red") and dimensions (e.g. "color") impacts attention to visual dimensions. The goal of this study is to investigate variations in the quality of the neural system supporting dimensional label comprehension and production in relation to…

People can fail to notice objects and events in their visual environment when their attention is engaged elsewhere. This phenomenon is known as inattentional blindness, and its consequences can be costly for important real-world decisions. However, not noticing certain visual information could also signal expertise in a domain. In this study, we…

Older adults struggle with tasks requiring selective attention amidst distractions. Experimental observations about age-related decline have relied on visual search designs using static displays. However, natural environments often embed dynamic structures that afford proactive anticipation of task-relevant information. We investigate the capacity…

Evidence for implicit aversive learning effects has been criticized for its lack of experimental rigor and statistical reliability. Here we examine whether attentional emotional responses to aversive conditioned stimuli can occur in the absence of stimulus-outcome contingency awareness, and use a novel Bayesian tool to reliably perform a post hoc…

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate developmental changes in the efficiency of sustained, selective, and divided attention in a group of children aged 6-12 years by means of a computerized test battery. Participants included 199 children (51% female, majority White) who had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and no history of either…

Children (N = 103, 4-9 years, 59 females, 84% White, c. 2019) completed visual processing, visual feature integration (color, luminance, motion), and visual search tasks. Contrast sensitivity and feature search improved with age similarly for luminance and color-defined targets. Incidental feature integration improved more with age for…

Eye-tracking methodologies have revealed that eye movements and pupil dilations are influenced by our previous experiences. Dynamic fluctuations in pupil size during learning reflect in part the formation of memories for learned information, while viewing behavior during memory testing is influenced by memory retrieval and drawn to previously…

Visual exploration paradigms involving object arrays have been used to examine salience of social stimuli such as faces in ASD. Recent work suggests performance on these paradigms may associate with clinical features of ASD. We evaluate metrics from a visual exploration paradigm in 4-to-11-year-old children with ASD (n = 23; 18 males) and typical…