University of Twente Student Theses
The Role of Visual Attention when Executing a Motor Sequence Production Task
Riesenbeck, Lea (2021) The Role of Visual Attention when Executing a Motor Sequence Production Task.
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| Abstract: | Previous motor sequence learning studies suggest that when sequence representations have developed, participants can choose to ignore stimuli indicating the individual sequence elements if those do not attract attention, but tend to use them when they are displayed. The present study aimed at creating a practice situation in which attention is not attracted by individual key-specific stimuli and participants are persuaded to ignore them. The question was whether this would increase independence of the key-specific stimuli and therewith improve motor sequence learning. To test this, two experiments were performed in which participants practiced two 4-keypress sequences by responding to key-specific stimuli with different features. The results show that ignoring key-specific stimuli strengthens skill learning and further suggest that participants prepared for identifying isoluminant stimuli, which reduced sequence learning relative to Experiment 2. Experiment 1 showed that key-specific stimuli continue to be used when they are isoluminant if the first stimulus forces them to use a slower processing mode in which attention is captured by isoluminant stimuli. Experiment 2 suggests that to allow participants to ignore guidance by the key-specific stimuli, the color of the first stimulus should differ from the following stimuli so that after practice, only the salient first stimulus would capture attention and participants would not use a slower processing mode to process the isoluminant following stimuli. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/86114 |
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