Attention when you need

Abstract:Paying attention improves performance, but attention is metabolically costly, so how should a resource-efficient agent allocate it? We study optimal allocation strategies using a normative model of a signal detection task in which attention comes at a cost. The model reveals that optimal attention is temporally structured in one of two patterns depending on task conditions: when attention costs penalize intense focus, optimal attention ramps up as evidence for the signal accumulates, but with less prohibitive attention costs, optimal attention fluctuates rhythmically. In cases with rhythmic attention, allocation frequency increases with task parameters such as reward magnitude for successful detection, signal brevity, and signal frequency. We argue that rhythmic attention emerges naturally in an agent whose belief updates are dominated by a stable temporal prior and not by the likelihood of new sensory observations. Our results characterize the conditions under which rhythmic vs. ramping attention is optimal and offer a normative account of attentional fluctuations observed in sustained attention tasks.

Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)

arXiv:2501.07440 [q-bio.NC]

(or arXiv:2501.07440v3 [q-bio.NC] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2501.07440 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.