Fluctuations in attention are ubiquitous. We all experience the waxing and waning of our attention, with periods of focus alternating with periods of distraction by irrelevant thoughts or external sensations. Given the pervasiveness of these fluctuations, it is important to understand how they influence both our behavior in the moment and the structure of our memory.
In this dissertation, I use behavioral studies and eye tracking to measure spontaneous attentional fluctuations and examine how these fluctuations shape online behavior and subsequent memory. I test my primary hypothesis that optimal attentional states help us link experiences over time to allow our memories to be temporally organized, whereas suboptimal states disrupt the temporal structure of memory.
In Chapter 1, I present four studies using a novel experimental design to connect research on sustained attention and memory. I replicate prior findings linking response-time-based measures of attention to online behavior. Surprisingly, I found that these response-time measures of attention do not predict the temporal structure of free recall.
In Chapter 2, I indexed attentional fluctuations with both response times and pre-trial pupil size and demonstrated that these measures of attention predict complementary aspects of behavior. Attentional fluctuations, as indexed by pupil size, predicted the temporal organization of memory but not attentional lapses in online behavior. Conversely, response times predicted attentional lapses in the moment but did not predict the temporal organization of memory.
Finally, in ongoing work in Chapter 3, I examine whether providing cues at retrieval enhances or diminishes the effects of attentional fluctuations on the temporal organization of memory. Together, my results shed light on the complex interactions between fluctuations in attention and episodic memory. Critically, I show that different measures of attention – behavioral vs. physiological approaches – capture distinct aspects of cognitive function, and suggest that the attentional states that shape online behavior and later memory are at least partly distinct.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/8zf6-w715 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Jayakumar, Manasi |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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