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Components of attentional effort for repeated tasks
Author(s) -
Musalem Andres,
Montoya Ricardo,
Meißner Martin,
Huber Joel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of behavioral decision making
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0771
pISSN - 0894-3257
DOI - 10.1002/bdm.2188
Subject(s) - repetition (rhetorical device) , duration (music) , orientation (vector space) , lexicographical order , component (thermodynamics) , cognitive psychology , psychology , computer science , variable (mathematics) , mathematics , art , mathematical analysis , philosophy , linguistics , physics , geometry , literature , combinatorics , thermodynamics
This paper identifies four attentional processes that increase efficiency and accuracy in repeated lexicographic tasks using an instructed strategy approach. We propose a framework to decompose attentional effort used to make a decision into four components: Orientation, Wrong Target, Duration, and Repetition. Orientation assesses attention to decision rules and the location of relevant information. Wrong Target measures wasted effort on unneeded information. Duration gauges time spent on each piece of needed information. Repetition measures the number of views on each relevant item. Greater Orientation is associated with lower effort in other components and increased accuracy. Repetition is most variable across individuals but generates the greatest improvement with practice. Duration is less affected by the other components and shows minimal improvement with experience. Finally, Wrong Target is similarly resistant to practice, but it is the only component strongly and positively associated with making errors.