The present study examined how variation in the amount of attention devoted to items (intensity) and the consistency with which attention is maintained on task (consistency) are related to each other and to overall learning abilities. In two experiments, participants completed measures of working memory (WM), long-term memory (LTM), motivation, and a paired associates (PA) cued recall task with thought probes embedded throughout the encoding phase of each word-pair list. In Experiment 2, pupil diameter was also simultaneously recorded during encoding of the PA task to provide an index of the intensity of attention. Results collectively suggested that the most successful learners were those who were both less susceptible to lapses of attention (high consistency) and had larger pupil dilation at encoding (high intensity). Critically, while attentional lapses and pupil dilation were negatively related to one another—both between and within subjects—each aspect of attention accounted for unique variance in associative learning even after accounting for WM, LTM, and motivation. Follow-up analyses further revealed that, while intensity and consistency were both related to motivation and (to a lesser extent) general LTM abilities, motivation was a greater determinant of the consistency of attention. Therefore, it appears that the intensity and consistency of attention are likely distinct, multifaceted constructs that are differentially influenced by a variety of factors and play an important role in learning.

本研究考察了对项目的注意力（强度）的变化和对任务的注意力的一致性（一致性）是如何相互关联的，以及与整体学习能力的关系。在两个实验中，参与者完成了工作记忆 (WM)、长期记忆 (LTM)、动机和配对联想 (PA) 提示的回忆任务，并在每个词对列表的整个编码阶段嵌入了思想探针。在实验 2 中，在 PA 任务的编码过程中也同时记录了瞳孔直径，以提供注意力强度的指标。结果共同表明，最成功的学习者是那些不太容易注意力不集中（高一致性）并且在编码时瞳孔扩大（高强度）的人。关键的是，虽然注意力下降和瞳孔扩张彼此呈负相关——无论是在受试者之间还是在受试者内部——即使在考虑了 WM、LTM 和动机之后，注意力的每个方面都解释了联想学习的独特差异。后续分析进一步表明，虽然强度和一致性都与动机和（在较小程度上）一般 LTM 能力有关，但动机是注意力一致性的更大决定因素。因此，注意力的强度和一致性似乎是不同的、多方面的结构，受各种因素的不同影响，并在学习中发挥重要作用。