Week 7: What is enraging the musician?

The Enraged Musician – by Hogarth

“An exogenous cue is an external event such as the abrupt onset of a stimulus at a peripheral location that involuntarily draws the attentional spotlight to its location. […] An endogenous cue is typically a symbol such as a central arrow head that must be identified before a voluntary shift in attention to the designated location can be made […] indicating that their benefits are due to conscious control of the attentional spotlight.” – Historical Overview of Research on Attention by Johnson

“The taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or train of thought.” – William James’s definition of attention.

In the painting, the musician is clearly annoyed at the many various distractions immediately outside window. It is an exaggeration of the hubbub of city life. As the musician is trying to concentrate his attention upon his classical music-making, he is unable to do so because the same modes of sensation needed to listen to his own music is being overrun by the lingering noises on the outside of his window.

            This depiction of distraction may serve as a good example of exogenous control versus endogenous control of attention. As stated in the quote above, exogenous control of attention refers to a passive, almost reflex-like, attention in which it is non-voluntary and is being controlled by external influences (i.e. loud noises, visual cues – spotlight). On the other hand, endogenous control of attention is the active and voluntary type of attention; this type of attention is commonly associated with a more voluntary activation of specific stimulus (i.e. reading, manual labor).

            Recent studies (post-1975) show that it is hard to use multitask when the tasks being performed use the same stimulus or response modalities (Johnson p.20). “Multiple task performance typically is better when the tasks use different input-output modes than when they use the same modes.”  Relating this back to the Enraged Musician, we can assume that the exogenous control of his attention via loud noises is overpowering the same stimuli needed for his endogenous control of attention toward his music; here, exogenous attention is distracting by taking away from his endogenous attention’s “clearness” (James’s definition of attention).

            Taking into account the excerpts and interpretations above, attention can be thought of as the currency for mental activity – philosophers seem to attribute the action of directing attention with a cost of brain processing power – and it is limited. Thus, since the brain compartmentalizes all its modes of sensation and reflection spatially, multitasking tends to get harder when the multiple tasks (brain activity) use the same brain space as opposed to spreading out the work-load to various compartments of the brain. This is personified in Hogarth’s painting in that the musician is annoyed at the fact that he cannot focus all of his attention to playing the violin.