Multi-focus Attention Processing Mechanism Based On Multi-objective Tracking Paradigm And Its Characteristics In Pilots

Background:As the core of the Air Force’s military activities,military pilots are the main implementers of strategic air power and an important component of the military’s combat effectiveness.Efficient and accurate psychological selection of pilots is of great importance both for aviation safety and for improving operational effectiveness.Basic cognitive skills are the essential psychological qualities of a good pilot.Attention is one of the most important and fundamental mental qualities and is closely linked to aviation safety and operational effectiveness.A comprehensive and accurate assessment of attentional skills is of great importance.The most basic assessment of attention in the current Flight Cadet Psychological Selection System I platform still has three issues that need to be optimised:(1)Lack of dual task test for comprehensive ability assessment;(2)Other dimensions of attention except visual attention were not evaluated;(3)Lack of high ecological validity and dynamic task test.A correct understanding of the processing patterns of attention is the basis for accurate assessment and training of attentional abilities.The question of whether the processing pattern of attention is unifocal or multifocal has long been the focus of research on attentional mechanisms,and although a growing body of research suggests that the processing pattern of attention is multifocal and parallel,researchers have suggested that there are issues such as few constraints and the availability of attentional strategies in studies that have concluded that the focus of attention is divisible,so further research is still needed on this issue.The present study therefore introduces a multi-objective tracking paradigm with higher ecological validity to investigate the processing patterns of attention under conditions of more restrictive conditions and higher ecological validity.Based on this,the paradigm is further applied to pilots in order to provide further theoretical support for the optimization of assessment and training of attention in the psychological selection of pilots.Research Content:This study was divided into three parts,in which current cadets and in-flight military pilots at the Air Force Medical University were recruited as subjects according to certain inclusion and exclusion criteria,and a multi-objective tracking paradigm with higher ecological validity was used as the main tool to investigate the processing patterns of attention.Based on this,the paradigm and its variants were applied to the pilot group in relation to the actual needs of flying,comparing the performance of pilots with that of general healthy subjects.The specific studies are as follows.Study 1 investigated the processing patterns of attention in both temporal and spatial dimensions using the multi-objective tracking paradigm combined with the simultaneous sequence paradigm and the change-awareness paradigm as research material.Three experiments were conducted to investigate whether there is a multifocal processing pattern of attentional processing after excluding the effect of working memory and whether the processing pattern of attention changes as the number of target stimuli increases.Study 2 used classical MOT as the study material and combined with eye movement techniques to investigate eye movement patterns in the multi-target tracking paradigm.Eye movement patterns that facilitate visual tracking during multi-target tracking are investigated,while providing objective support for the findings of Study Ⅰ.Study 3 used a convenience sampling method to select 35 military pilots as the experimental group and 34 general healthy subjects as the control group to compare the performance of the experimental and control groups on the multi-target tracking paradigm and its audiovisual dual-task variant.Results:Study 1 investigated the processing patterns of attention through three behavioural studies and found the following results.1.After excluding the effects of working memory,there was a multifocal processing pattern of attention,as evidenced mainly by performance in the temporal dimension when stimuli were presented simultaneously being no worse than when they were presented sequentially,and in the spatial dimension showing a clear two-view dominance,with better performance between half-views than within half-views.2.The processing mode of attention was flexible,with processing patterns changing as the number of target stimuli increased,showing multifocal processing within a threshold range(i.e.,up to 4 target stimuli)and beginning to change as the number of target stimuli increased.Study 2 investigated the eye-movement characteristics in MOT through eye-movement techniques and found the following results.1.The central area consisting of the target stimuli plays an important role in the visual tracking process,as shown by subjects paying more attention to the central area.This result can be explained by multifocal theory,providing objective support for multifocal processing of attention.2.The degree of attention to the central region positively predicted correct tracking,while the degree of gaze to the target region negatively predicted correct tracking.Study 3 used MOT,auditory CTP and a dual task combining MOT and auditory CPT to investigate the phenomenon of multisensory integration in individuals receiving crosschannel information and the difference in attentional ability between pilots and normal healthy subjects under different visual loads.The following results were found.1.For pilots,the effect of auditory CPT on MOT became smaller as visual load increased,with auditory tasks significantly interfering with visual tasks when the number of target stimuli was 4 and 5(p<0.05)and with no significant effect of auditory tasks on visual tasks when the number of target stimuli was 6(p=0.490);for general healthy subjects,the effect of auditory CPT had an increasing effect on MOT;for pilots the difference between performance on single auditory CPT and CPT in dual task was not statistically significant(p>0.05);for general healthy subjects performance on single task CPT was significantly better than performance on CPT in dual task(p<0.001).2.Pilots performed significantly better than the general healthy subjects in all conditions.As task difficulty increased,the advantage of pilots over the general group became more pronounced and showed a slower decline in correctness than the general population.Pilots possessed higher attentional breadth,better attentional allocation,and stronger attentional transfer.Conclusions:In summary this study found that there is a multifocal processing pattern of attention and that applying a paradigm with higher ecological validity distinguishes pilots from average healthy subjects well in terms of attentional ability.Specifically,the following conclusions were made:(1)a multifocal,parallel processing pattern of attention exists;(2)the processing of attention is flexible,with the processing pattern of attention changing as the number of target stimuli changes;(3)the centroid of minimum eccentricity formed by the target stimulus plays an important role in the processing of attention,and the degree of attention to this region positively predicts the accuracy of tracking;and(4)Pilots outperformed the general population regardless of the conditions,and that advantage was even more pronounced at higher task difficulty,where pilots’ attentional processing had faster transfer capabilities and greater flexibility;(5)the multi-target tracking paradigm and its dual-task variant could distinguish well between pilots and the general population in terms of attentional capabilities.