title: A different kind of weapon focus: simulated training with ballistic weapons reduces change blindness.
abstract: Attentional allocation is flexibly altered by action-related priorities. Given that tools - and specifically weapons - can affect attentional allocation, we asked whether training with a weapon or holding a weapon during search would affect change detection. In three experiments, participants searched for changes to agents, shootable objects, or environments in the popular flicker paradigm. Participants trained with a simulated weapon or watched a video from the same training perspective and then searched for changes while holding a weapon or a control object. Results show an effect of training, highlighting the importance of sensorimotor experience for the action-relevant allocation of attention, and a possible interaction between training and the object held during search. Simulated training with ballistic weapons reduces change blindness. This result has implications for the interaction between tool use and attentional allocation.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St N, London, Ontario N6A 5B7 Canada.
authors.forename: J Eric T
authors.initials: JET
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO USA.
authors.forename: Jessica K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Ontario, Toronto Canada.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pratt
keywords: Action and attention; Attention; Change blindness; Weapon training