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People pay more attention to upper half of field of vision, study shows

Date:
April 22, 2014
Source:
North Carolina State University
Summary:
People pay more attention to the upper half of their field of vision, a study shows, a finding that could have ramifications for traffic signs to software interface design. "It doesn't mean people don't pay attention to the lower field of vision, but they were demonstrably better at paying attention to the upper field," the lead researcher says.
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A new study from North Carolina State University and the University of Toronto finds that people pay more attention to the upper half of their field of vision -- a finding which could have ramifications for everything from traffic signs to software interface design.

"Specifically, we tested people's ability to quickly identify a target amidst visual clutter," says Dr. Jing Feng, an assistant professor of psychology at NC State and lead author of a paper on the work. "Basically, we wanted to see where people concentrate their attention at first glance."

Researchers had participants fix their eyes on the center of a computer screen, and then flashed a target and distracting symbols onto the screen for 10 to 80 milliseconds. The screen was then replaced by an unconnected "mask" image to disrupt their train of thought. Participants were asked to indicate where the target had been located on the screen.

Researchers found that people were 7 percent better at finding the target when it was located in the upper half of the screen.

"It doesn't mean people don't pay attention to the lower field of vision, but they were demonstrably better at paying attention to the upper field," Feng says.

"A difference of 7 percent could make a significant difference for technologies that are safety-related or that we interact with on a regular basis," Feng says. "For example, this could make a difference in determining where to locate traffic signs to make them more noticeable to drivers, or where to place important information on a website to highlight that information for users."

The paper, "Upper Visual Field Advantage in Localizing a Target among Distractors," is published online in the open-access journal i-Perception.


Story Source:

Materials provided by North Carolina State University. Original written by Matt Shipman. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Jing Feng, Ian Spence. Upper visual field advantage in localizing a target among distractors. i-Perception, 2014; 5 (2): 97 DOI: 10.1068/i0625rep

Cite This Page:

North Carolina State University. "People pay more attention to upper half of field of vision, study shows." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 April 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140422113355.htm>.
North Carolina State University. (2014, April 22). People pay more attention to upper half of field of vision, study shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 7, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140422113355.htm
North Carolina State University. "People pay more attention to upper half of field of vision, study shows." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140422113355.htm (accessed October 7, 2024).

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