Howard E. Egeth - US grants

93119356 Egeth This project is designed to examine the temporal and spatial aspects of attentional selectivity. In the spatial domain, the research is designed to clarify how preattentive and focal attentive processes cooperate in the performance of tasks. In the temporal domain, the focus is on early facilitation and later inhibition following an uninformative cue, with a goal of clarifying when processing is retinocentric, environmentally based, object based, or object centered. The first set of proposed experiments is designed to determine the efficiency with which subjects can avoid distracting material as they search through complicated displays looking for relevant information. Existing work has led to conflicting theoretical explanations of performance in such tasks; and the proposed research should help decide among these competing alternatives. A second set of experiments explores the aftermath of a cue (e.g., the brief brightening of a dim light) that directs attention to a specific location. Such a cue improves the ability to detect targets presented at the cued location. However, what is surprising is that such improvement is short-lived (about 1/2 sec), and is followed by a longer lasting performance decrement. The proposed experiments are an effort to explain the factors that cause this performance decrement. In addition to their theoretical significance, both sets of experiments have significance in the world outside the laboratory. Such work is pertinent to many settings in the work place and may lead to the discovery of methods to reduce the sometimes catastrophic consequences of a failure to pay attention. ****

ABSTRACT Social attitudes are typically described as being either positive, neutral, or negative. However, people often express ambivalence on important social topics -- attitudes that contain a mixture of both positive and negative sentiments. For example, research over the past 20 years has shown that many Americans are ambivalent in their attitudes toward racial minorities and toward physically disabled persons. Ambivalence helps to explain why a person might sometimes treat members of a stigmatized group in a favorable or helpful way, and at other times in an unfavorable or hurtful way. The present research addresses two important but unresolved problems in research on attitude ambivalence. The problem is that satisfactory methods do not yet exist for measuring ambivalence. Thus, one part of this research focuses on developing a valid and reliable measurement procedure. The new procedure will facilitate research progress and can be applied in ongoing efforts to document and archive public opinion on important social concerns. The second problem is that relatively little is known about the structure and function of ambivalent attitudes. it is currently believed that ambivalence is caused by a conflict in fundamental values, and that people truly adhere to both positive and negative sentiments at the same time. However, ambivalence may also reflect poorly developed social attitudes, or it may reflect deliberate efforts to present whatever social image is most desired at the time. This research seeks to distinguish among the alternative explanations by studying cognitive processes associated with the storage and retrieval of ambivalent attitudes. The studies will provide a deeper understanding of why people often hold ambivalent attitudes. Ultimately, the research will provide a theoretical basis for developing interventions that promote interracial harmony, that encourage healthful lifestyles, and that mobilize the Nation's efforts to remove the social and physical barriers that often confront disabled persons.

The Departments of Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience of The Johns Hopkins University propose a new interdisciplinary training program in perceptual and cognitive neuroscience. The purpose of the program is to train predoctoral and postdoctoral students for careers in teaching and independent research in the neural basis of perception and cognition through advanced coursework and laboratory experience. The program will emphasize the technical skill and theoretical insight required to independently conceive and execute cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research in each trainee's chosen area. The program will be jointly administered by core faculty in the-three departments, supplemented by participating faculty in related departments within the University. Trainees will have a primary affiliation in one of the three departments. Each Ph.D. candidate will complete a common set of core requirements stipulated by the training program, in addition, each trainee will complete a small number of additional requirements stipulated by their home department. The core requirements include graduate courses in Foundations of Neuroscience, CNS Neurophysiology, Computational Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Cognitive Psychology. During the first year, each predoctoral trainee will complete a 10-week laboratory rotation in each of the two non-home departments (e.g., a Cognitive Science predoctoral student would complete rotations in Psychology and Neuroscience). All predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees will participate in joint seminars and Journal Club meetings in which program faculty and trainees will present and discuss current research in perceptual and cognitive neuroscience. An ongoing speaker series in Perceptual and Cognitive Neuroscience will provide trainees with exposure to current research by distinguished scholars and scientists. Research areas covered in the program include primate neurophysiology (visual and somatosensory systems), neural plasticity, functional neuroimaging (e.g., PET and fMRI), cognitive neuropsychology and neurology, visual and tactile psychophysics, bioacoustics and auditory perception, attention, perceptual development, and, computational and neural network models of perception, memory, and cognition. All laboratory facilities have been newly renovated within the last 6 years and are state of the art. Trainees and program faculty members are housed in adjacent buildings on the Homewood Campus of The Johns Hopkins University.