CS Special Seminar: Jaana Simola "Dynamics of attentional fluctuations and individual cognitive characteristics"

Dynamics of attentional fluctuations and individual cognitive characteristics

Jaana Simola
University of Helsinki

Monday, 21 March at 12:15
via Zoom: request the link by email [email protected]
Note! the link will be sent by email to CS staff.

Abstract: Selective attention allows us to focus on important and tune out unimportant information. Attention can be captured both by external events and our internal thoughts and feelings. First, I will present data from studies investigating how task-irrelevant information and emotional stimuli are processed during active vision, i.e., when participants can freely move their eyes. In the second part of my talk, I will show how attentional fluctuations between external and internal attentional states can be studied at different time-scales. Finally, I will present research in individual differences in attitudinal biases related to science-based decision making along with future research plans and new directions. 

Bio: Jaana Simola is a university researcher at the University of Helsinki. She completed her PhD in psychology in 2011 at the University of Helsinki with the highest grade. Her research concerns performance and brain dynamics during different attention tasks. Jaana is interested in how external and internal events capture attention and how attentional fluctuations can inform us about the episodes when attention decouples from external environment to self-generated states such as mind wandering. Jaana has also a strong interest in fluctuations in behavioral responses, spontaneous brain dynamics, and pupil size. Her most recent research concerns neurocognitive underpinnings and attitudinal biases related to science-based reasoning and decision-making. Jaana uses a wide range of methods including eye tracking, EEG, MEG, fMRI, cognitive/neuropsychological tasks and questionnaires.