Daisuke AbeCorey Christous

Advisor - Emmanuel AguCo-Advisor - Cliff Lindsay

Effects of Task Intensity on Attention

CS MQP 2008

Effects of Task Intensity on AttentionHypothesisBackgroundExperiment DesignData AnalysisConclusions

HypothesisAs a task becomes more difficult, the user

performing the task will notice less unrelated objects that they see.

Users with more expertise will notice more objects, because they require less attention on their task.

If we are able to show this, our results can be used to increase the efficiency of graphics rendering by eliminating details that are likely to be unnoticed.

Alternatively, our results can be used to judge what level of task intensity is appropriate when game designers want the players to appreciate the graphics.

Effects of Task Intensity on AttentionHypothesisBackgroundExperiment DesignData AnalysisConclusions

BackgroundSaliency – the property of an object to stand out in

comparison to its surroundingsAttention Based Saliency – the property of an

object to stand out because of its inherent contrast to its surroundings

Task Based Saliency – the property of an object to stand out because it is related to the task at hand

If our hypothesis is correct, task based saliency would dominate attention based saliency as the task becomes more difficult.Players would only notice objects that are related to

their task.

Attention Based Saliency ExampleColors and Illumination

Task Based Saliency ExampleGame Objective

Effects of Task Intensity on AttentionHypothesisBackgroundExperiment DesignData AnalysisConclusions

Experiment DesignDesigned a Doom 3 map with ten pick-up items, a few

objects consistent with the environment, and a few objects inconsistent with the environment including images of famous figures

Varied the task difficulty by having one map without monsters (easy), one map with slow monsters(medium), and one map with fast monsters(hard)

Asked participants to answer a few questions about themselves, including gaming experience

Asked participants to collect all of the items as fast as they could, avoiding enemiesPlaced objects such that participants would see almost all

of them regardless of what route they tookRandomly assigned participants to each of the mapsAsked participants to list the objects they saw in the

map

Effects of Task Intensity on AttentionHypothesisBackgroundExperiment DesignData AnalysisConclusions

Data Analysis:Pictures Seen vs Self-Rating graphsPlayers who thought they

were more proficient at first person shooting games noticed more pictures in the map

Self rating was accurate

While we saw some trends, our results are not statistically significant. However, we believe that increasing the difficulty differences will produce statistically significant results.

Data AnalysisExperienced players ignored objects that were

natural in the map because of previous experienceMost objects the player sees in a FPS don’t do

anythingInexperienced players looked at everythingParticipants who spent more time in the map

noticed more objectsMore experienced players noticed more

images in the mapThe players’ skill level affected perceived

difficulty for the map

Effects of Task Intensity on AttentionHypothesisBackgroundExperiment DesignData AnalysisConclusions

ConclusionsTask intensity had an effect on

performance and visual attentionSkill levels had an effect on perceived task

intensityLong term experience has more impact

than current hours spentSome participants used to play FPS games

but stopped playingQuestion about hours played might have

produced inaccurate results

Suggestions for the FutureA thorough pre-experimental test to more

accurately group participants into appropriate skill levels

Increase the difference in the difficulty levels in order to see statistically significant differences

Try other genres