The performance of many important everyday tasks requires the proper allocation of attention to task-relevant information, yet often attention can be captured by distracting irrelevant information. Several search paradigms have been developed to better understand the visual features that capture attention, and the relationship between attention capture effects and an observer’s current goals and intentions defined by the task. However, a complete understanding of attention capture, required to predict cases of harmful distraction, must also include an understanding of how individual differences impact distraction and attentional control. While this is an active area of research, this understanding has been hampered by measures of attention capture, based on the calculation of difference scores, which tend to be unreliable. This dissertation aimed to 1) better characterize the reliability of common attention capture paradigms, 2) explore how task parameters (distractor and set size blocking) influence reliability, 3) compare different indicators of capture (response times vs. eye movements) with respect to reliability, and 4) investigate whether alternative methods of defining capture, derived from linear mixed modeling, may be more reliable than difference scores. Overall, blocking trial organization greatly improved paradigm reliability across all experiments, except for the oculomotor capture paradigm, where it is speculated, randomness may lead to greater capture rates. Interestingly, capture by color singletons and capture by onsets, showed similar levels of reliability. Moving forward, the approach to influencing reliability as outlined in this set of experiments, may lead to a better understanding of factors that influence capture within other, commonly used attention capture paradigms, in addition to contributing to the advancement of theories of attentional control. Further, the development of more robust, reliable capture measures has the potential to greatly advance our understanding of factors that shape individual differences in susceptibility to distraction. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 10, 2018. / attention, attention capture, distraction, reliability / Includes bibliographical references. / Walter Boot, Professor Directing Dissertation; Laura Arpan, University Representative; Michael Kaschak, Committee Member; Jonathan Folstein, Committee Member; Frank Johnson, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_654749 |
| Contributors | Roque, Nelson A. (Nelson Arley) (author), Boot, Walter Richard (professor directing dissertation), Arpan, Laura M. (university representative), Kaschak, Michael P. (committee member), Folstein, Jonathan R. (committee member), Johnson, Frank (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Psychology (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (77 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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