The Role of Attention and Perception in the Control of Visually Guided and Memory-Guided Actions

• Author / Creator

  Armstrong, Graeme A B

• I investigated the attentional and perceptional mechanisms involved in the control of visually guided and memory-guided actions in two experiments using event-related potentials (ERPS). In the first dual task experiment, participants performed reciprocal aiming in visually guided and memory-guided modes while simultaneously performing a dichotic listening task from which ERPs were collected. A decrease in mismatch negativity (MMN) component amplitude during visually guided aiming suggests that it requires more automatic attention, and an increase in P300 component latency during memory-guided aiming suggests that it requires more voluntary attention. In the second experiment, ERPs were collected while participants were presented with pictures of tools and, after a delay, either pantomimed how each tool was used (go) or did nothing (no-go). No differences in perception-related N170 amplitude were found between go and no-go trials but limitations of this experiment impede conclusions as to the role of N170 mechanisms in delayed action planning.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Action
  • Perception
  • Attention

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3231W

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.