Figure 1.

Illustration of how involuntary attention and involuntary attention operate. (A) When the peripheral representation of the words is clear, the word “involuntary” automatically draws attention because it is distinct from the other sources in its color/intensity. However, if attention is directed to the bottom right corner of the panel, the word “voluntary” can be extracted easily. (B) If the peripheral representation is less clear and the colors/intensities of the competing objects are less distinct (as in a listener with hearing loss), involuntary attention is weaker and analysis of each word is more difficult.