Role of Awareness in Attention Learning and Control

Abstract

According to the Attention Schema Theory (AST), awareness serves as an internal model of attention that is critical for endogenous control of attention. In accordance with this view, attention has been shown to become unstable towards stimuli and more easily drawn to distractors when the observer is unaware of them. But awareness, like internal models of other systems, may also be important for learning to allocate attention in an environment. To specifically investigate this learning process, we used a spatial cueing paradigm in which subjects learned over time to endogenously allocate their attention to a target location that a cue predicts with a hidden probability. We also imaged neural activity via fMRI while subjects were performing the task to test the preposition that the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) plays a central role in constructing this internal model of attention. We found that awareness of the cue, but not explicit awareness of the probabilistic context, was necessary for this learning. Prior target locations influenced where attention was allocated, consistent with an error-driven account of learning in which internal prediction gets updated trial-by-trial. Finally, the rTPJ activity increased to targets appearing in unexpected locations, was modulated by prior target locations, and showed a strong correlation with behavioral signature of learning. These behavioral and neural findings present evidence consistent with the AST and elucidate the role of awareness in learning to endogenously control attention.