Attention with Spatial Distractors
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Major
Mechanical Engineering
Research Advisor
Nelson, Michael D.
Advisor's Department
Psychological Science
Funding Source
UMR Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experiences (OURE) Program
Abstract
A pool player relies on skill, depth perception, and concentration to win. What is the affect of the solid ball, distance to shoot, and number of balls surrounding the target of a striped ball on the player’s accuracy? This experiment looks at congruent, incongruent, and neutral distractors in three spatial depths and how these affect attention. Shutter glasses and interlaced images are used to simulate spatial depth. Easy and challenging conditions were constructed. The easy condition has a target and a spatial distractor. The difficult condition has a string of letters with an imbedded target and a spatial distractor. The subject is asked to identify if the target displayed is an “X” or “Z.” A previous study illustrated that incongruent distractors have the greatest effect on attention (Nelson & Norfolk, 2006). It is hypothesized that spatial incongruence will have the same affect. In addition to this, the distractor in depth will influence the subject’s attention more than the distractor behind or on the same level as the target.
Biography
Tawnia Misak is a senior in Mechanical Engineering. Tawnia is from Anthony, KS and had an early introduction to mechanical devices through her time working on the family farm. She has had the opportunity to intern at Bombadier-LearJet, Honeywell, and Caterpillar Inc. Through these internships she has experienced engineering roles in quality, machine process, design, fabrication, assembly, high voltage rapid prototyping, software testing, and controller development. To broaden her experiences, she has pursued a research project in Psychology. She has maintained an active role on campus. She was 1st Vice-President for Blue Key Honor Society and Campus Ministry Representative for the Newman Center. She is also a member of Kappa Delta, holding various appointed offices and has helped with the new membership education program. She earned a varsity letter in track and field. She was introduced to an Australian “Uni” while attending the University of New South Wales for an exchange program. She is looking forward to graduating in May and starting life after college with plans to pursue a masters of science in the near future.
Research Category
Humanities/Social Sciences
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Presentation Date
12 Apr 2006, 1:00 pm
Attention with Spatial Distractors
A pool player relies on skill, depth perception, and concentration to win. What is the affect of the solid ball, distance to shoot, and number of balls surrounding the target of a striped ball on the player’s accuracy? This experiment looks at congruent, incongruent, and neutral distractors in three spatial depths and how these affect attention. Shutter glasses and interlaced images are used to simulate spatial depth. Easy and challenging conditions were constructed. The easy condition has a target and a spatial distractor. The difficult condition has a string of letters with an imbedded target and a spatial distractor. The subject is asked to identify if the target displayed is an “X” or “Z.” A previous study illustrated that incongruent distractors have the greatest effect on attention (Nelson & Norfolk, 2006). It is hypothesized that spatial incongruence will have the same affect. In addition to this, the distractor in depth will influence the subject’s attention more than the distractor behind or on the same level as the target.
