The strength of confidence is involved in controlling the intensity of attentional allocation

Abstract

Abstract Subjective confidence and uncertainty are closely related to cognition and behavior. However, direct evidence that subjective confidence controls attention allocation is lacking. This study aimed to clarify whether subjective confidence could be involved in controlling attention allocation and intensity. We created a model for predicting the participants’ subjective confidence and verified its validity. Then, an electroencephalogram was recorded while the participants engaged in a behavioral task aimed to allocate their attention based on their confidence level. We observed a negative correlation where trials with higher confidence were associated with shorter reaction times to the target. Regarding event-related potentials (ERPs), we observed higher P1 potentials (early component of the ERP waveform after stimulus onset) in the ipsilateral occipital area during target presentation. Additionally, we observed lower frontoparietal P3a potentials (component of the ERP waveform associated with attention) in the high-confidence condition. We observed a higher alpha (8–12 Hz) power in the ipsilateral occipitoparietal area of the target presentation in the low-confidence condition. Subjective confidence might influence attentional allocation and intensity, possibly achieved by suppressing processing in the target-absent space. Our findings provided important insights into the role of subjective confidence in cognitive and behavioral control.

Keywords

• Attention allocation
• Controlling attention
• Confidence
• Electroencephalogram EEG