Attention and Distraction Lab
Prof. Jeff Moher
Our Research
Have you ever been trying to focus hard on a task, when you get distracted by a notification on your phone? Or have you found yourself paying more attention to a billboard on the highway than the task of driving? These are the types of behaviors that we are trying to understand through our research at CameLab. We employ behavioral and neurophysiological methods to understand why distractions occur, when they are likely to arise, and what mechanisms humans can harness to avoid them.
Through experiments utilizing EEG and reach tracking technology, we have found that people employ a variety of cognitive mechanisms to minimize distractions. These mechanisms are based on explicit knowledge, task goals, object properties, and recent experience. We have also discovered surprising limitations to attentional selection, where observers are distracted even despite best intentions.