John D. Eastwood

Modulation of focused attention by faces expressing emotion: evidence from flanker tasks.

Three experiments evaluated whether facial expression can modulate the allocation of focused attention. Identification of emotionally expressive target faces was typically faster when they were flanked by identical (compatible) faces compared with when they were flanked by different (incompatible) faces. This flanker compatibility effect was significantly smaller when target faces expressed negative compared with positive emotion (see Experiment 1A); however, when the faces were altered to disrupt emotional expression, yet retain feature differences, equal flanker compatibility effects were observed (see Experiment 1B). The flanker-compatibility effect was also found to be smaller for negative target faces compared compatibility with neutral target faces, and for both negative and neutral target faces compared with positive target faces (see Experiment 2). These results suggest that the constriction of attention is influenced by facial expressions of emotion.

Negative facial expression captures attention and disrupts performance

In two experiments, participants counted features of schematic faces with positive, negative, or neutral emotional expressions. In Experiment 1 it was found that counting features took longer when they were embedded in negative as opposed to positive faces. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 and also demonstrated that more time was required to count features of negative relative to neutral faces. However, in both experiments, when the faces were inverted to reduce holistic face perception, no differences between neutral, positive, and negative faces were observed, even though the feature information in the inverted faces was the same as in the upright faces. We suggest that, relative to neutral and positive faces, negative faces are particularly effective at capturing attention to the global face level and thereby make it difficult to count the local features of faces.

Visual search for faces with emotional expressions.

The goal of this review is to critically examine contradictory findings in the study of visual search for emotionally expressive faces. Several key issues are addressed: Can emotional faces be processed preattentively and guide attention? What properties of these faces influence search efficiency? Is search moderated by the emotional state of the observer? The authors argue that the evidence is consistent with claims that (a) preattentive search processes are sensitive to and influenced by facial expressions of emotion, (b) attention guidance is influenced by a dynamic interplay of emotional and perceptual factors, and (c) visual search for emotional faces is influenced by the emotional state of the observer to some extent. The authors also argue that the way in which contextual factors interact to determine search performance needs to be explored further to draw sound conclusions about the precise influence of emotional expressions on search efficiency. Methodological considerations (e.g., set size, distractor background, task set) and ecological limitations of the visual search task are discussed. Finally, specific recommendations are made for future research directions.

Attention, Researchers! It Is Time to Take a Look at the Real World:

Theories of attention, too often generated from artificial laboratory experiments, may have limited validity when attention in the natural world is considered. For instance, for more than two decades, conceptualizations of “reflexive” and “volitional” shifts of spatial attention have been grounded in methodologies that do not recognize or utilize the basic fact that people routinely use the eyes of other people as rich and complex attentional cues. This fact was confirmed by our novel discovery that eyes will trigger a reflexive shift of attention even when they are presented centrally and are known to be spatially nonpredictive. This exploration of real-world attention also led to our finding that, contrary to popular wisdom, arrows, like eyes, are capable of producing reflexive shifts of attention—a discovery that brings into question much of the existing attention research. We argue that research needs to be grounded in the real world and not in experimental paradigms. It is time for cognitive psychology to reaffirm the difficult task of studying attention in a manner that has relevance to real-life situations.

The Unengaged Mind: Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention

Our central goal is to provide a definition of boredom in terms of the underlying mental processes that occur during an instance of boredom. Through the synthesis of psychodynamic, existential, arousal, and cognitive theories of boredom, we argue that boredom is universally conceptualized as “the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.” We propose to map this conceptualization onto underlying mental processes. Specifically, we propose that boredom be defined in terms of attention. That is, boredom is the aversive state that occurs when we (a) are not able to successfully engage attention with internal (e.g., thoughts or feelings) or external (e.g., environmental stimuli) information required for participating in satisfying activity, (b) are focused on the fact that we are not able to engage attention and participate in satisfying activity, and (c) attribute the cause of our aversive state to the environment. We believe that our definition of boredom fully accounts for the phenomenal experience of boredom, brings existing theories of boredom into dialogue with one another, and suggests specific directions for future research on boredom and attention.

Development and Validation of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale

This article describes the development and validation of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS)—the first and only full-scale measure of state boredom. It was developed based on a theoretically and empirically grounded definition of boredom. A five-factor structure of the scale (Disengagement, High Arousal, Low Arousal, Inattention, and Time Perception) was supported by exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses of two independent samples. Furthermore, all subscales were significantly related to a single, second-order factor. The MSBS factor structure was shown to be invariant across gender. MSBS scores were significantly correlated with measures of trait boredom, depression, anxiety, anger, inattention, impulsivity, neuroticism, life satisfaction, and purpose in life. Finally, MSBS scores distinguished between participants who were experimentally manipulated into a state of boredom and those who were not, above and beyond measures of trait boredom, negative affect, and depression.

Relax! Cognitive strategy influences visual search

Two experiments evaluated whether visual search can be made more efficient by having participants give up active control over the guidance of attention. In Experiment 1 participants were instructed to search while either actively directing their attention to the target or by passively allowing the target to just “pop” into their minds. Results showed that passive instructions led to more efficient search on a hard task but not on an easy task. In Experiment 2 participants completed the search task either by itself or concurrently with a memory task. This yielded the same pattern of results as Experiment 1; a hard search was completed more efficiently when performed concurrently with a memory task than when performed alone. These findings suggest (a) that the efficiency of some difficult searches can be improved by instructing participants to relax and adopt a passive cognitive strategy and (b) the improved efficiency results from a reduced reliance on slow executive control processes and a greater reliance on rapid automatic processes for directing visual attention.

Individuals with social phobia are biased to become aware of negative faces

To evaluate whether individuals with social phobia are biased to become aware of negative faces participants searched visual displays containing varying number of neutral face distractors for the location of positive and negative faces. Individuals with social phobia had shallower search slopes for locating negative compared to positive faces, suggesting that they are biased to become aware of negative faces more readily than they become aware of positive faces. A similar bias was found for individuals with panic disorder; but no such bias was found either for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder or for control participants. The findings illustrate the importance of considering the characteristics of participants in the study of human attention.

Inhibition of return in response to gaze cues : The roles of time course and fixation cue

Recent studies have demonstrated that orienting of attention in response to nonpredictive gaze cues arises rapidly and automatically, in a similar fashion to peripheral sudden onset cueing. However, while peripheral cues consistently elicit inhibition of return (IOR) at about 300 ms following cue onset, very little is known about inhibition effects in response to gaze cues. The present experiments systematically examined the conditions under which IOR arises with such cues. Reliable inhibition effects were obtained. Importantly, IOR emerged only at long cue-target intervals and only when a second cue actively triggered attention away from the cued location. This suggests that compared to sudden onset cueing, gaze cueing results in both prolonged facilitation and a delayed onset of inhibition processes. Thus, although both types of cues elicit very similar orienting effects in terms of their basic behavioural outcomes, there are more subtle differences between gaze and peripheral cues with respect to the maintenance and quality of those cueing effects across time.

Is boredom associated with problem gambling behaviour? It depends on what you mean by ‘boredom’

The propensity to experience boredom is believed to be a predisposing factor for problem gambling; yet, a full understanding of this association is currently lacking. Some claim that gambling alleviates the under-arousal associated with boredom; others claim that gambling helps individuals avoid the negative affect associated with boredom. The purpose of the present study was to clarify this relationship. Two hundred and two undergraduate students completed measures of gambling, boredom, and sensitivity to punishment and reward. Results suggest individuals gamble in order to increase arousal, rather than to avoid the negative affect associated with boredom. Moreover, results also suggest that boredom is distinctly related to gambling problems, above and beyond its overlap with sensitivity to reward.