Task-Irrelevant Information Reduces Attentional Uncertainty.

Authors

Joy J Geng, Sarah Shomstein, Qianqian Wan, Kelly E McEvoy

Published in

Annual review of vision science. Jul 15, 2026. Epub Jul 15, 2026.

Abstract

The mechanisms of goal-driven attention are often characterized as serving the selection of task-relevant information. However, decades of research have now shown that selection is biased by many different sources of extra-target information. These sources are often characterized as being "task irrelevant." In this review, we systematically describe different sources that carry uncertainty-reducing signals, and we argue that these "irrelevant" sources are not only relevant but also necessary for efficient processing of our environment. We provide evidence that "irrelevant" information carries target-predictive signals integral to rapid goal-directed attentional processing. We argue that the extra-target sources of information are a form of cognitive shortcuts that contribute to greater efficiency in information selection in the natural world.

PMID:
42456182
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.