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The Commingled Division of Visual Attention
- pshc 11y agoSo let see if I understand this--if as a test subject your task is to perceive two different criteria in the same scene concurrently, performance drops off dramatically? Sounds about right. Take video games. Whenever I've tried one of those indie/experimental games where you need to deal with multiple problems simultaneously, my brain enters this anxious mode where I keep flip-flopping between paying attention to qualia A or qualia B. It's such a stressful mode. God, Towerfall is hard.
- jrapdx3 11y agoVery interesting, if unsurprising that increasing demand on attention reduces efficiency. I suppose that's what I dislike about the busy visual displays installed in new cars, and why I turn it off in rental cars. Hard enough to drive in an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar city without the additional distraction. I'll read the article in detail, but seems logical that other sensory input would have similar attention-splitting results. I was thinking about the apparently preoccupied drivers using their mobile phones and trying to negotiate downtown traffic at the same time. Lessons may be in it re: design/engineering of instrumentation for automobile operation and other critical attention tasks. Basically, would seem fall under the heading of constructing UI that minimizes risks to attention.