An interactive race model of divided attention.
Two classes of models have been proposed to explain how redundant information extracted from separate sources comes to activate a single response. Each provides a fundamentally different account of why responses to redundant signals are typically faster than those to either signal alone (the redundant-signals effect). Independent race models assume that a race occurs between perceptual codes on independent channels and that only the winner activates the response. Coactivation models assume that there is some form of energy or activation-strength summation, with information being pooled across channels prior to decision. An intermediate class of models is introduced and a specific exemplar, the interactive race model, is tested in a series of redundant-target detection experiments. In particular, we examine the effects on performance of two types of contingency that have previously been overlooked as sources of task-relevant information. The results reveal that response times are significantly influenced by both interstimulus and stimulus-response contingencies. The interactive race model provides a natural account of these findings as well as several otherwise puzzling results in the divided-attention literature.
Mordkoff
J T
JT
Department of Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218.
Yantis
S
S
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time