Attentional control and the self: The Self-Attention Network (SAN)
- PMID:25945926
- DOI: 10.1080/17588928.2015.1044427
Attentional control and the self: The Self-Attention Network (SAN)
Abstract
Although there is strong evidence that human decision-making is frequently self-biased, it remains unclear whether self-biases mediate attention. Here we review evidence on the relations between self-bias effects in decision-making and attention. We ask: Does self-related information capture attention? Do self-biases modulate pre-attentive processes or do they depend on attentional resources being available? We review work on (1) own-name effects, (2) own-face effects, and (3) self-biases in associative matching. We argue that self-related information does have a differential impact on the allocation of attention and that it can alter the saliency of a stimulus in a manner that mimics the effects of perceptual-saliency. However, there is also evidence that self-biases depend on the availability of attentional resources and attentional expectancies for upcoming stimuli. We propose a new processing framework, the Self-Attention Network (SAN), in which neural circuits responding to self-related stimuli interact with circuits supporting attentional control, to determine our emergent behavior. We also discuss how these-bias effects may extend beyond the self to be modulated by the broader social context-for example, by cultural experience, by an in-group as opposed to an out-group stimulus, and by whether we are engaged in joint actions. Self-biases on attention are modulated by social context.
Keywords: Attention; Own-face effect; Own-name effect; Self-bias.
Comment in
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- Commentary: Attentional control and the self: The Self Attention Network (SAN).Porciello G, Minio-Paluello I, Bufalari I.Porciello G, et al.Front Psychol. 2016 Nov 3;7:1701. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01701. eCollection 2016.Front Psychol. 2016.PMID:27857699Free PMC article.No abstract available.
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