We sometimes fail to notice objects and events in our environment because our attention is directed elsewhere—a phenomenon
called inattentional blindness. Our attentional set—the features we prioritize in our environment—plays a large role in determining what
we notice. For example, adopting an attentional set for green makes green objects more likely to capture attention. Although a large body
of research has explored the types of attentional sets we may adopt, few have explored the time course of attentional sets. And, out of
these, none have explored how experience with a no-longer useful attentional set can impact the activation of new attentional sets. In two
experiments, I show that a minimal amount of experience with an attentional set can cause that set to remain active past the point when it
is no longer useful: Noticing of an unexpected object was higher when its color matched the color of previous targets, but new
distractors, than when its color matched the color of objects that were always distractors. Furthermore, noticing was equivalent between
times when the unexpected object's color matched the color of objects that were previous distractors, but new targets, and times when its
color matched the color of objects that were always targets. Overall, this finding suggests that past experience with an attentional set
can impact the time it takes to adopt a new attentional set. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of
Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 14, 2016. / Attention Capture, Attention Set, Inattentional Blindness, Long Term Memory, Visual Attention, Working
Memory / Includes bibliographical references. / Neil Charness, Professor Directing Dissertation; Leonard LaPointe, University Representative;
Walter Boot, Committee Member; Sara Hart, Committee Member; Jonathan Folstein, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_360451 |
| Contributors | Stothart, Cary (authoraut), Charness, Neil (professor directing dissertation), LaPointe, Leonard L. (university representative), Boot, Walter Richard (committee member), Hart, Sara (committee member), Folstein, Jonathan Robert (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 (52 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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