The following is a summary of “Diminishing sensitivity and absolute difference in value-driven attention,” published in the January 2022 issue of Ophthalmology by Kim, et al.

Prospect theory may be significant to the comprehension of value-driven attention, according to Kim and Beck’s (2020b) demonstration that value-driven attention is based on relative worth rather than absolute value. For a study, researchers sought to determine how value-driven attention was affected by declining sensitivity to advance this understanding. 

According to diminishing sensitivity, changes in outcomes have an impact more when they are close to the reference point of 0 than when they are further away from it. Due to their distinct ratios, the difference between $1 and $100 looms bigger than that between $901 and $1000 (100/1 > 1000/901). Yet, the absolute difference hypothesis stated that the differences should have equivalent effects because the absolute differences are equal (100 – 1 = 1000 – 901). 

The purpose of Experiment 1 was to test the hypothesis that declining sensitivity operates in the modified value-driven attention paradigm while minimizing the influence of absolute differences. 100-point and 1000-point color targets in the training phase had references of 1 point and 901 points, respectively. The declining sensitivity hypothesis was supported in the test phase by the observation that 100-point color distractors grabbed the attention of more than 1000-point color distractors. In Experiment 2, they controlled for the effect of decreasing sensitivity and investigated the absolute difference hypothesis. Contrary to the absolute difference hypothesis, the test phase revealed that a 1000-point color distractor failed to grab the attention of more than a 100-point color distractor (compared with 10-point colors for a 990 absolute difference in the training phase) (compared with 1-point colors, for a 99 absolute difference). 

The applicability of prospect theory to value-driven attention was further supported by the findings, which indicated that declining sensitivity, rather than absolute difference, drove value-driven attention.

Reference: jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2778292