Статья

The Predation Game: Does dividing attention affect patterns of human foraging?

I. Thornton, J. Tagu, S. Zdravković, Á. Kristjánsson,
2021

Attention is known to play an important role in shaping the behaviour of both human and animal foragers. Here, in three experiments, we built on previous interactive tasks to create an online foraging game for studying divided attention in human participants exposed to the (simulated) risk of predation. Participants used a “sheep” icon to collect items from different target categories randomly distributed across the display. Each trial also contained “wolf” objects, whose movement was inspired by classic studies of multiple object tracking. When participants needed to physically avoid the wolves, foraging patterns changed, with an increased tendency to switch between target categories and a decreased ability to prioritise high reward targets, relative to participants who could safely ignore them. However, when the wolves became dangerous by periodically changing form (briefly having big eyes) instead of by approaching the sheep, foraging patterns were unaffected. Spatial disruption caused by the need to rapidly shift position—rather the cost of reallocating attention—therefore appears to influence foraging in this context. These results thus confirm that participants can efficiently alternate between target selection and tracking moving objects, replicating earlier single-target search findings. Future studies may need to increase the perceived risk or potential costs associated with simulated danger, in order to elicit the extended run behaviour predicted by animal models of foraging, but absent in the current data.

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  • 1. Version of Record от 2021-05-06

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Об авторах
  • I. Thornton
    Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
  • J. Tagu
    Faculty of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Oddi v. Sturlugötu, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland, EA 4139 Laboratory of Psychology, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
  • S. Zdravković
    Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia, Laboratory for Experimental Psychology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Á. Kristjánsson
    Faculty of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Oddi v. Sturlugötu, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland, School of Psychology, National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
Название журнала
  • Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications
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  • 6
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  • 1
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  • 35
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  • Springer Nature
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  • journal article
Тип лицензии Creative Commons
  • CC BY
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  • Свободная лицензия
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  • dimensions