Running head: USING RHYTHMIC ATTENTION TO LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY 1

Using Rhythmic Attention to Learn More Effectively

Abbie Ottosen
Harrison High School
December 2018
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Abstract
This experiment was conducted to determine if the brain could be manipulated into using

the peripheral vision to learn more effectively. Prior to experimentation, participants were given

a pre-test that was actually identical to the post-test, but they were unaware of this. One day after

this test, participants were invited back into the same room with three equally sized computers.

One computer was in the middle, and was flanked by two computers at angles that open up to the

viewer. The side computers had the same slides on them and in the same format as the center

computer, but the center computer had different slides. Each computer screen showed a flag and

the corresponding country name beneath it. The participant was then instructed to look only at

the center screen, but all screens were on at once. After this, participants took the post-test. 55%

of participants saw a 30% percent increase in score from the pre-test to the post-test after

experimentation. However, 33% of participants saw no percent increase in score on the side slide

flags, meaning that they were unaffected by the experiment. Despite this, still 67% of

participants saw a positive percent increase in their side slides score, meaning that they were able

to interpret the information presented and comprehend it. The data shows that participants were

able to understand the information through their peripherals, and therefore provide evidence that

rhythmic attention can be used to improve learning.

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Using Rhythmic Attention to Learn More Effectively

Introduction

Articles provide explanations and evidence for rhythmic attention, and how perception is

not actually what humans see in one look, but how attention reorients and connects the

pieces/senses into one constant stream of information. Experiments showing the neural activity

of subjects with the time of reorientation of attention on task, and the overall complexity of

focusing on the modern world around us, have led scientists to propose that attention is stopped

and focused elsewhere four times a second. Some studies present findings that the spatial

attention in humans directly affects the working memory, therefore imposing limits on those with

low spatial awareness/view, but other studies find it evident that information that is not directly

focused on is still remembered because it is placed with the main focal point in the memory as

one “picture”. Popular mechanisms for learning large amounts of information include listening to

audio regarding the information, reading the information several times, and writing the

information continuously to retain memory. However, these techniques are not efficient, and do

not allow the brain to work naturally. Students are also recommended to minimize distractions,

however, distractions are an instinct of the brain, and should be utilized, rather than concealed.

By manipulating the natural tendency to be distracted, voluntarily or involuntarily, students

should be able to learn more effectively and efficiently by using their peripheral vision as a

guide. The purpose of this study is to use rhythmic attention to allow students to learn more

effectively. To do such, participants were instructed to look at the center screen of three total

screens and recall information in the slide show presented on a test. This method was used to

force the participant’s brain to use their peripheral vision and unconsciously gather information
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they were not instructed to receive into one stream of knowledge. If this proves to be accurate,

the way humans learn could be changed.

Literature Review

Studies provide a framework for a hypothesis on the limits of rhythmic attention and how

it can be directly used in learning. Attention reorients in a rhythm of four times a second, and it

brings the pieces of the fragmented view into a “cohesive narrative” called the “perpetual cycle”

(Betuel, 2018, 2). That mechanism in the brain is a form of natural adaptation, so that the brain is

technically distracted at all times- and that it is how humans have survived for the duration that

they have. This mechanism is in addition to the normal method of selective attention, and it

“rhythmically monitors other locations outside this focus” (Buschman Kastner, 2015, 2). Thus,

creating a highly dynamic and flexible form of attention that is natural in the human brain . This

sampling of attention is important and for the most efficient results, it “must be distributed

efficiently and flexibly over time and space to accommodate different contexts” (Jia, Liu, Fang,

& Luo, 2017, 2). Therefore, the peripheral vision is vital to learning, and by using the natural

rhythms of attention, students should be able to absorb more information and connect them

involuntarily into one constant string of memory. Several different tests have been conducted

regarding the limitations of the memory, and how it works to focus on one task despite

distractions. To test whether visual area is directly involved in the reallocation of voluntary

attention, Dugue and colleagues in 2016 conducted four tests that differed in the validity of

attentional cue and location of objects. The subjects were directed to look at either a valid or

invalid location, but either a distractor or target would force them to redirect their attention

elsewhere. Their findings conclude that visual information is “sampled periodically” (Dugue,
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Roberts, & Carrasco, 2016, 5). In addition to these findings, Jia and colleagues in 2017 used

discs to present a target square, and subjects were asked to fix their attention on the specified

disc even when the square was flashed on the other. In their four tests, the validity of where the

square would be decreased by 25% each time. After the trial, the subject would indicate whether

they detected a square or not. Their results support a function of the “sequential sampling

mechanism in attention” (Jia, Liu, Fang, & Luo, 2017, 11). A common experiment was the

redirecting of attention when told not to do so, but the brain is inclined to do so naturally. The

research is limited to the occurrence but not why it happened due to the restrictions on

technology. The findings of the two groups were further supported in the research by Buschman

and Kastner in 2015 as they report that attention is able to piece together chunks of information

from different locations in the brain to create a memory, whether it be knowledgeable or not.

They conclude that attention is a highly dynamic function that changes rapidly between specific

locations or tasks. Limited knowledge is available on why this happens, or how it has become an

adaptation.

Method
In contrast to general belief, getting distracted is not a disability, but it is found to be a

mechanism vital to human survival, which has been found by most scientists recently. However,

the use of this information can be used to not only inform, but to learn in a more effective way.

Although the 2016 Dugue study concluded that attention is rhythmic, and that humans are

always distracted, the use of this knowledge is untested, and unresolved. These studies open the

door to new research regarding the extent to which rhythmic attention can be used in connection

with learning. By using the research conducted by Yamamoto and Philbeck in 2012, a sufficient
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number of participants should be placed in front of three screens, one centered and two angled on

both sides. Then, the middle screen should display content regarding certain elements of

information, and the other two screens should display information on elements not mentioned on

the middle screen, but still concentrating on similar content. Subjects should be informed that

they are not to purposefully look at the other two screens but focus on the center screen. Prior to

this, the subjects should take a pre-test to determine knowledge about the topic before being

indulged to the information, and the same test after. The middle screen should be set to a four

second timer, allowing sixteen attempts for the brain to use the peripheral vision to interpret the

other screens. The other two screens should have an eight second timer, allowing twice as much

time for the brain to gather the information. The pre-test and post-test should have exceptionally

different scores, with the post-test scores being higher. At least half of the participants should see

a 30% increase in their scores. This test should determine if the brain can analyze information

from the peripheral, and thoroughly be able to display this knowledge. If the previous studies are

relevant, then the participants should be inclined to “look” -the brain becoming distracted- and

learn the information presented on all three screens. Future steps to determining the effect of

rhythmic attention on learning have been outlined above. By testing the growth of knowledge

before and after manipulating attention, a definitive answer can be concluded. At least half of the

participants should see a 30% increase in their scores, and there could be a difference between

genders. Disorders, specifically ADHD and ADD should be considered when experimenting to

determine if there is more of a reaction when the brain is even more likely to lose focus. If the

predicted results are proven prevalent, then learning could become more effective and ultimately

transformed to be given in the way that our brains are programmed to understand.
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Data Analysis
The anticipated result was for a 30% increase in score for half of the participants.

Overall, 55% of participants saw an increase of 30% or more in their score. Of this, 33% were

females with a significant increase in score, and 22% were males with a significant increase in

score. The graph and data table in Figure 1 and Figure 2 below display the pre-test and post-test

scores among participants, and the positive increase among the participants.

Figure 1 displays the pre-test and post-test scores in (x,y) format, which gives a positive slope
and correlation.
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Figure 2 displays the data that was used in Figure 1. The “number” column represents the
participant. Across each row are the scores that each participant received.
Another result seen was that 7/19 participants, or 37% of participants missed a side focus

flag the second time only (after the powerpoint). Every male’s corrections came from more than

0% of the side focus slides, while only 4/10 females corrections came from more than 0% of the

side focus slides. Figure 3 demonstrates the simple results of overall percent increase in score

with all corrections. Conversely, Figure 4 shows the percent increase in score for side focus

slides only, which is marginally different than what is shown in Figure 3.

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Figure 3 displays the percent increase by males vs females (males are red, females are green).
For the overall corrections, females increased their scores by more.

Figure 4 displays the percent increase in side focus slides alone for males and females (males
are red, females are green), and it clearly demonstrates that males improved more on the side
focus slides.
Discussion
Overall, the findings were as expected, as over half the participants saw an increase of

30% or higher. Knowing that the brain instinctively reorients attention four times a second,

participants should have had enough time to view the side screens with their peripheral, as those

slides only changed after eight seconds. With a little over half of participants seeing an increase
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in score by at least 30%, there is some evidence that the brain was able to comprehend the

information that was presented. However, an unexpected outcome was the breakdown of the

percent increase, as 12/18 participants saw an increase in their side focus scores, but 6/18

participants (all female) saw no improvement at all in the side focus slides. Also, 37% of

participants regressed on the side focus slide questions, meaning that they missed a flag that was

on the side computers the second time only. This could be a result of the correction of several

center slide flags, as the participant could have exerted more time and effort on those questions

than on the flags that they do not consciously remember viewing.

Similar to the results found by Jia, Liu, Fang, & Luo in 2017, it was found that attention

processes multiple tasks at once, instead of simply keeping focus on one task. The brain samples

these tasks in a rhythm, which was documented by Betuel in 2018 to be 4 times a second, and

these findings provide more use for this research as a learning mechanism. Perhaps the

participants were distracted by outside noise during the experiment, which could have

substantially limited the possibility of the brain reorienting itself to focus on the side slides. This

could explain the lack of progression with the side focus slides. Another explanation could be the

fact that these participants were simply distracted with internal distractions rather than physical

distractions. However, this is unlikely because humans are always thinking and becoming

mentally “unaware”.

A common result that was noticed during the experiment was that participants would

actually slow down the second time that they tested. Not all participants did this of course, but

44% of them did. This could be a result of a mental debate, as the brain unconsciously processed

the flags, so the memory could be unclear. All of the participants that were slower the second

time around, with the exception of one, saw a percent increase of 21% or higher. This means that
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the slower that the participants went and the longer they took to interpret their findings, the more

improvement they would see.

Therefore, the natural rhythms of attention can be manipulated to improve the

effectiveness of learning. This is evident through the positive increase in scores among

participants, and more specifically, the growth in the side focus slides. It can also be noted that

males responded better than females did.

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References
Betuel, E. (2018, August 22). Scientists Reveal the Number of Times You're Actually Conscious

Each Minute. Retrieved from https://www.inverse.com/article/48300-why-is-it-hard-to-

focus-research-humans

Buschman, T., & Kastner, S. (2015). From Behavior to Neural Dynamics: An Integrated Theory

of Attention. Neuron, 88(1), 127-144. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.017

Dugué, L., Roberts, M., & Carrasco, M. (2016). Attention Reorients Periodically. Current

Biology, 26(12), 1595-1601. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.04.046

Jia, J., Liu, L., Fang, F., & Luo, H. (2017). Sequential sampling of visual objects during

sustained attention. PLOS Biology, 15(6), e2001903. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2001903

Yamamoto, N., & Philbeck, J. W. (2012). Peripheral vision benefits spatial learning by guiding

eye movements. Memory & Cognition, 41(1), 109-121. doi:10.3758/s13421-012-0240-2