Attention Is Spontaneously Biased Toward Regularities

Zhao, Jiaying; Al-Aidroos, Naseem; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B.

doi:10.1177/0956797612460407

Cited by 266Visual perception and processing mechanismsVisual Attention and Saliency DetectionNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Attention Is Spontaneously Biased Toward Regularities

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Zhao, Jiaying, Al-Aidroos, Naseem, Turk-Browne, Nicholas B.·2013·Psychological Science

DOI 10.1177/0956797612460407PMC PMC3734864

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Abstract

Knowledge about regularities in the environment can be used to facilitate perception, memory, and language acquisition. Given this usefulness, we hypothesized that statistically structured sources of information receive attentional priority over noisier sources, independent of their intrinsic salience or goal relevance. We report three experiments that support this hypothesis. Experiment 1 shows that regularities bias spatial attention: Visual search was facilitated at a location containing temporal regularities, even though these regularities did not predict target location, timing, or identity. Experiments 2 and 3 show that regularities bias feature attention: Attentional capture doubled in magnitude when singletons appeared, respectively, in a color or dimension with temporal regularities among task-irrelevant stimuli. Prioritization of the locations and features of regularities is not easily accounted for in the conventional dichotomy between stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention. This prioritization may in turn promote further statistical learning, helping the mind to acquire knowledge about stable aspects of the environment.

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The effect of temporal regularities was observed although the vast majority of participants were unaware of the temporal regularities.
“This effect was observed although the vast majority of the participants were unaware of the temporal regularities.”
From Selection history: How reward modulates selectivity of visual attention. (2018) · cites this paper as Zhao, Al-Aidroos, & Turk-Browne, 2013
The General Discussion says most participants reported no awareness and that the attentional bias remained robust among them. But the Results and discussion sections report that 25 of 75 participants across the three experiments said they noticed regularities, so “vast majority” overstates the self-reported lack of awareness; few of those who noticed could correctly identify where the regularities occurred. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Participants responded quicker when the target was at the stream location that contained temporal regularities relative to a random stream location.
“Participants were found to respond quicker when the target happened to be at the stream location that contained temporal regularities relative to when it appeared at the location of a random stream.”
From Selection history: How reward modulates selectivity of visual attention. (2018) · cites this paper as Zhao, Al-Aidroos, & Turk-Browne, 2013

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Authors: Zhao, J., Al-Aidroos, N., & Turk-Browne, N. B.
Affiliations: Princeton University (US)
University of Guelph (CA)
Princeton University
ORCID: Zhao, Jiaying
Al-Aidroos, Naseem
Venue: Psychological Science
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2013-04-04
Volume: 24
Issue: 5
Pages: 667-677
ISSN: 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
1467-9280
DOI: 10.1177/0956797612460407
PMC: PMC3734864
OpenAlex: W2145638643
Cited by: 266
References: 45
Citations by year: 2026: 11 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 3
FWCI: 12.75
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
europepmc.org
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: National Eye Institute (R01EY021755)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords: attentional bias, statistical learning, temporal regularity, spatial attention, feature attention, visual search, attentional capture, singleton detection, bottom-up attention, top-down attention
MeSH terms: Adult, Attention, Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Space Perception, Students, Visual Perception, Bias, Young Adult

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Attention Is Spontaneously Biased Toward Regularities

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