The relationship between sustained attention, attentional selectivity, and capacity

The Theory of Visual Attention (TVA; Bundesen, 1990) provides a quantitative account of visual attentional selectivity and capacity but does not include a parameter relating to sustained attention. We conducted two studies to examine the relationship between sustained attention and the TVA parameters relating to selectivity and capacity. In the first study (n = 46; mean age = 41, SD = 10), we investigated the effects of self alerting during a combined whole and partial report task (CombiTVA). In the second study, 70 participants (aged 20-69), performed the CombiTVA and the Sustained Attention to Response Task (Robertson, Manly, Andrade, Baddeley, & Yiend, 1997). The results indicated that attentional selectivity and capacity were unaffected by self alerting, unrelated to sustained attention ability and robust to the adverse effects of time-on-task. These findings are in keeping with the idea of independent functions relating to sustained attention and attentional selectivity and capacity.