The current studies focus on individual difference predictors of the phenomenon inattentional blindness (IB; when observers fail to notice a salient but unexpected event when attention is occupied by another task). Study 1 (conducted on Mechanical Turk) explicitly examined unexpected object salience as the moderator between the potential relationship between working memory capacity and IB. Salience was varied in two ways: 1) the color of the unexpected item (gray vs. red) and also the distance of the unexpected item from fovea (near vs. far). A second lab-based study explored the degree to which attentional control is an important individual difference predictor of IB, with the idea that individuals more susceptible to attention capture will be more likely to notice the unexpected event, and individuals who are better able to filter irrelevant information will miss it more. Study 2 tested this hypothesis by examining the relationship between four classic measures of attentional control (measuring implicit capture of attention using reaction time) and IB (measuring explicit detection of an unexpected object using participant report). Contrary to hypotheses, working memory capacity was not a significant predictor of IB, even in instances in which the unexpected object was highly salient (Study 1). Moreover, Study 2 found no relationship between classic measures of implicit capture (based on RT) and explicit capture (participant report of noticing an unexpected event). Instead, age, processing speed, and conscientiousness demonstrated predictive ability in distinguishing noticers and non-noticers. Results suggest that attentional control (measured via working memory capacity or classic measures of attention capture) is unrelated to explicit detection of an unexpected stimulus. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2015. / July 17, 2015. / Attentional Control, Attention Capture, Distraction, Inattentional Blindness, Selective Attention, Working Memory / Includes bibliographical references. / Walter Boot, Professor Directing Dissertation; Betsy Becker, University Representative; Neil Charness, Committee Member; Jonathan Folstein, Committee Member; Arielle Borovsky, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_273625 |
| Contributors | Wright, Timothy J. (authoraut), Boot, Walter Richard (professor directing dissertation), Becker, Betsy Jane, 1956- (university representative), Charness, Neil (committee member), Folstein, Jonathan Robert (committee member), Borovsky, Arielle A. (Arielle Ann) (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Psychology (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (69 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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