Title
On saliency, affect and focused attention
Abstract
We study how the visual catchiness (saliency) of relevant information impacts user engagement metrics such as focused attention and emotion (affect). Participants completed tasks in one of two conditions, where the task-relevant information either appeared salient or non-salient. Our analysis provides insights into relationships between saliency, focused attention, and affect. Participants reported more distraction in the non-salient condition, and non-salient information was slower to find than salient. Lack-of-saliency led to a negative impact on affect, while saliency maintained positive affect, suggesting its helpfulness. Participants reported that it was easier to focus in the salient condition, although there was no significant improvement in the focused attention scale rating. Finally, this study suggests user interest in the topic is a good predictor of focused attention, which in turn is a good predictor of positive affect. These results suggest that enhancing saliency of user-interested topics seems a good strategy for boosting user engagement.
Year
DOI
Venue
2012
10.1145/2207676.2207751
CHI
Keywords
Field
DocType
good predictor,good strategy,focused attention scale rating,positive affect,non-salient condition,salient condition,task-relevant information,non-salient information,focused attention,relevant information impacts user,saliency
Distraction,Helpfulness,Salience (neuroscience),Computer science,User engagement,Boosting (machine learning),Affect (psychology),Multimedia,Salient
Conference
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
34
1.52
12
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Lori McCay-Peet119012.35
Mounia Lalmas22593225.26
Vidhya Navalpakkam343519.77