Attention, please! Behavioral and neural dynamics of distraction

Speaker: Malte Wöstmann

University of Lübeck, Germany

February 28, 2024
11:15 AM - 1 PM U.S. Eastern Time | Register Now

Abstract
Goal-oriented behavior requires selective attention. Models of attention rest on the idea that irrelevant inputs are filtered out, but the dynamics of attentional filtering are not entirely clear. I will use auditory distraction as a test case and present evidence from psychoacoustics, electroencephalography (EEG), and online research on inter-individual differences to show three insights on the dynamics of processing distraction. First, expected distractions induce suppressive responses that are largely independent of attentional selection. Second, distractibility is not constant but fluctuates rhythmically across time, surfacing in temporally synchronized neural responses to distractors and associated behavioral costs. Third, objective measures and subjective reports of distraction vary considerably, but inter-individual differences can explain part of this variance. It will be discussed how these findings shape models of attention.

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