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uchicago-computation-workshop / ed_awh

Repository for Ed Awh's presentation at the CSS Workshop (1/10/2018)
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Attention to Empty Locations #18

Open Sun-Kev opened 5 years ago

Sun-Kev commented 5 years ago

You mention near the end of the discussion section that because the method is reliant on stimulus-evoked activity, "they cannot be used to track attention to empty locations." Though this particular study is not focused on this aspect, I'm curious as to the significance of why we'd be interested in understanding attention drawn to empty locations.

edawh commented 5 years ago

Sometimes, people direct attention to empty locations because something of interest "used to" be in that position. This tells us something about how spatial indexing is an integral part of visual memory, even after the relevant information is no longer visible. More broadly, we are interested in tracking internal mental states even when they are not tied to a specific (flickering) stimulus that is visible.