Research Interests
“Our mental life, like a bird’s life, seems to be made of an alternation of flights and perchings.” — William James, On Some Omissions of Introspective Psychology (1884)
Over the decades, a majority of the work we do in attention has been directed by James’ notion of perchings and flights. For example, we know a considerable deal about how our minds stay perched and focused on an individual, a task, or a goal, and we’re discovering what it means to have our minds fly away to other external objectives or to our internal mental landscape. However, we know shockingly little about what our patterns of alternation represent.
As such, my research program focuses on the understudied ebbs and flows and fluctuations in attentional processes over time, known as attentional dynamics. By bridging complex computational approaches with behavioural, psychophysiological, and neuroimaging methods, I have explored attentional dynamics (1) in social situations, (2) across internal thoughts, and (3) within digital environments.
Attentional Dynamics across Internal Thoughts
Our attention often fluctuates between our external environment (e.g., current task, immediate surroundings) and our internal thoughts (e.g., past events, future plans). Despite the frequent occurrence of these attentional shifts though, we still do not have a complete understanding of why attentional dynamics occur and how and when they impact performance outcomes.
In my work, I have quantified attentional dynamics between external and internal states (i) within individuals, (ii) across tasks and traits, and (iii) within neural mechanisms to uncover the effect of these patterns on real life outcomes. To date, I have found that each individual has stable and predictable patterns of internal thoughts that can be linked to distinct negative and positive outcomes in behaviour.
Collaborators: Samantha Ayers-Glassey, Dr. Sylvain Baillet, Dr. Lauri Gurguryan, Dr. Jelena Ristic, Dr. Signy Sheldon, Dr. Daniel Smilek, Dr. Jeffrey Wammes
Attentional Dynamics in Social Situations
Our attention often gravitates towards social information (e.g., people, faces, eyes) due to their inherent importance within our everyday lives. However, a key question that we have yet to answer is what properties control how and when attentional dynamics manifest in social situations.
In my work, I have examined the factors that impact social attention on a moment-to-moment basis (i) across behavioural data, (ii) within eye tracking metrics, (iii) in electrophysiological states, and (iv) across real-life interactions. To date, I have uncovered that attentional stability in social situations is highly impacted by the utility of this information (i.e., its direct value to us), which can be further broken down to the features of a face (e.g., its intensity or brightness) or the function it serves (e.g., projecting attractiveness or emotion).
Collaborators: Dr. Elina Birmingham, Dr. Francesca Capozzi, Dr. Alan Kingstone, Dr. Jelena Ristic
Attentional Dynamics within Digital Environments
Our attention is often studied in controlled laboratory environments, which typically simplifies the rich diversity of attentional dynamics that we typically find within real, online, and virtual contexts.
In my work, I have developed a temporal experience sampling smartphone application (TESSA), a video teleconferencing platform (VICTOR), and a message communication platform (MECO) to craft new ways of studying how attentional dynamics vary within (i) natural environments and (ii) the digital world. To date, I have uncovered that attentional fluctuations dynamically evolve based on the experiential nature of the task (e.g., is it of value, does it interest me) and effortful nature of the environment (e.g., would I rather be doing something else).
Collaborators: Dr. Monica Castelhano, Allison Drody, Dr. Daniel Smilek, Dr. Alyssa Smith