Attention Perception & Psychophysics最新文献

We examined word superiority and sentence superiority effects in post-cued letter identification by embedding target letters in a letter string that was part of a sequence of letter strings separated by spaces. Experiment 1 compared letter identification in words versus random consonant strings (i.e., nonwords), thus involving three conditions: grammatical word (e.g., HE RUNS OVER THERE; the target being the letter V), ungrammatical word (e.g., THERE HE OVER RUNS), and nonwords (e.g., THPRN HJ GVTR LPDKS). Stimuli were displayed for 500 ms and post-masked. Letter-in-word identification was greater in the grammatical than in the ungrammatical word context (a sentence superiority effect, SSE). Moreover, letter-identification accuracy was greater in words than in nonwords (a word superiority effect, WSE). Experiment 2 used pronounceable pseudowords instead of nonwords and replicated the SSE and WSE seen in Experiment 1, with the size of the WSE being substantially reduced relative to Experiment 1. Experiment 3 tested letter identification in words, pseudowords, and nonwords, either in a grammatical or in an ungrammatical context. We again found a significant SSE on letter-identification accuracy combined with the standard pattern of the WSE (word > pseudoword > nonword). Finally, the classic WSE pattern was also found when stimuli were presented in isolation in Experiment 4.

Distractor suppression is the process of utilizing top-down information about distractors to improve search performance. Most studies have utilized simple stimuli and concluded that basic visual features are suppressed. However, recent studies have shown that categorical information can be suppressed, albeit with limited categories and display set sizes. In three experiments, we examined whether suppression for categorical distractors remained robust in more realistic search conditions by increasing the number of categories and display set sizes. Across our experiments, we modified previous experiments' paradigms where participants searched for specific t orientations that were embedded in categorical objects. In Experiment 1, we increased the number of categories. In Experiment 2, we only increased the display set size. In Experiment 3, we increased both the number of categories and the display set size. Response times were faster on trials where the cued distractor category appeared, indicating distractor suppression effects in Experiments 1 and 2 but not Experiment 3. Combined, the results suggest that categorical distractor suppression effects likely occur in more realistic contexts, but other more beneficial search strategies may also be employed with increased task complexity.

Everyday interactions with a complex environment often demand selecting a single target among multiple distractors. A recent framework of attentional control suggests that object selection is influenced not only by perceptual salience and current goals but also by selection history. Here, we examine how this interplay between target and distractor history manifests in individual differences in target selection for goal-directed reaching movements. We employ a priming-of-popout (PoP) paradigm combined with continuous tracking of reaching movements. Participants reach for an odd-colored target among homogeneous distractors while we systematically manipulate the sequence of target and distractor colors from one trial to the next. We record behavioral data such as reach trajectory, initiation latency, and movement time, and calculate attraction scores using the single target reach trajectory as the baseline to evaluate performance across six conditions. For each participant, we determine their maximum attraction score and its timing for each condition. Subsequently, using k-means clustering and t-SNE analysis identifies four distinct clusters as subgroups, indicating different strategies in attentional and action selection with varying degrees of influence from previous target versus distractor feature repetition and their distinct contributions to PoP. Our findings underscore that previous selection history triggers a dynamic interaction between target facilitation and distractor inhibition, resulting in individual differences in target selection strategies for goal-directed actions.

In dual-task (DT) situations, performance typically deteriorates compared with single-tasking situations. These decrements can be explained by the serial scheduling of response selection stages constituting a central bottleneck as with decreasing stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) the reaction time for the second task (Task 2; RT2) increases. Prior studies indicated that the reaction time for the first task (Task 1; RT1) and RT2 are improved in reward compared with no-reward conditions for a block-wise reward prospect, which reflects reward-related optimization in DT processing. However, it remains unclear whether participants can flexibly utilize reward information in a trial-by-trial manner to achieve reward-related improvements. Additionally, it is unclear whether a potential reward-related optimization reflects optimized task preparation only or whether the prospect of reward can evoke an additional task optimization mechanism that extends beyond preparation-related processing improvements. For Experiment 1, we combined a trial-wise reward prospect for participants' Task 1 performance, which was signaled by a cue before Task 1 onset, with block-wise presented cue-target intervals (CTI) of either 200 ms or 700 ms, resulting in precise temporal predictability of Task 1 onset by participants. First, we observed a reduced RT1 in the reward compared with the no-reward condition. Furthermore, the reward effects increased on RT2 for short compared with long SOAs, reflecting effect propagation at short SOA from Task 1 onto Task 2. Second, RTs decreased with increasing CTI, while reward effects increased with increasing CTI. Consequently, preparation-related processing improvements of DT performance were additionally improved by reward utilization. For Experiment 2, temporal predictability of Task 1 onset was reduced compared with Experiment 1 by presenting CTIs randomized within blocks, which allowed replicating the result pattern of Experiment 1. Across both experiments, the results indicate that participants can flexibly utilize reward information in a trial-by-trial manner and that reward utilization additionally improves preparation-related processing improvements for DT conditions with predictable and less predictable Task 1 onset.

Using the "flanking-letters lexical decision" task, Dare and Shillcock The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 66, 487-504, (2013) and Grainger et al. Acta Psychologica, 146, 35-40, (2014) demonstrated that word is facilitated when the flanking bigrams are present in the target word (e.g., RO ROCK CK), regardless of their position (e.g., CK ROCK RO), compared to different flanking bigrams (e.g., DA ROCK SH). This finding aligns with the Open Bigram Model proposed by Grainger and Van Heuven, (2004), which posits that orthographic representations in the Latin script are encoded by an unordered set of ordered letter bigrams. Employing the same task and experimental design, we replicated this key finding in Arabic. We observed a facilitative bigram-relatedness effect in both the repeated and the switched conditions. These results suggest that bigram coding reflects a universal orthographic mechanism, with letter bigrams functioning as representational units in Arabic, similar to their role in Latin scripts. Our findings also suggest that letter-position coding in Arabic may be more flexible than previously thought for Semitic scripts. We evaluate these conclusions within the framework of the Open Bigram Model and contrast them with the PONG model, which assumes absolute position coding.

A decade ago, the widespread adoption of smartphones prompted research assessing the effects of media multitasking on cognitive performance. Early findings showed that high media multitasking imposed a significant cost to attention and executive function. Here, we revisited whether the harmful effects of media multitasking persist in digital native undergraduates, in whom nearly all media usage involves multitasking. We investigated the relationship between media usage and working memory (WM) performance. Across six experiments, we conducted online and in-person testing, using simultaneous or sequentially presented visual or auditory stimuli in tasks with and without distractors to test for attentional filtering. We verified media usage data from participants' devices. In addition, because we previously observed WM deficits in undergraduates with a self-reported history of mild traumatic brain injury (hmTBI; > 1 year prior), we tested whether hmTBI participants were more sensitive to high media usage. In contrast to prominent earlier findings, the current results identified no significant relationship between media usage and WM performance for hmTBI or control participants. Bayes factors support the null hypothesis: in these undergraduates, media usage does not affect WM performance. The one positive finding showed that hmTBI participants exhibit less media usage. We speculate that early results captured effects in the "transitional generation," and these effects are now resolved earlier in development. Alternatively, the brief engagement required by various media notifications may benefit WM, in particular. More research, including various cohorts, is needed to understand the long-term effects of media integration across cognitive domains.

Anticipating the occurrence of future events enables our adaptive behavior by facilitating processing at various stages from perception to action. While the functional benefits of temporal expectation are well acknowledged, its phenomenological effects remain unknown. Focusing on the phenomenon of orientation repulsion, wherein a vertical target is perceived as tilted against surrounding stimuli, we examined how the size of the illusion varies with developing temporal expectation. In Experiment 1, a multimodal cue predicted impending target onset through its validity and rhythmicity. We found that repulsion decreased when the target appeared at or later than the moment predicted by the cue. In Experiment 2, rhythmic cues did not significantly influence repulsion without explicit instruction or subjective awareness of the cue-target contingency. In Experiment 3, a single cue was provided, and the target appeared after one of three foreperiods. The occurrence probability of the target was equalized across foreperiods to isolate the effect of the conditional probability given that the target had not yet occurred (hazard rate). Repulsion decreased as the hazard rate increased with the foreperiod. Heightened temporal expectations inevitably produce a phenomenological change in orientation repulsion by reducing perceptual latency, whereby a premature target representation that has not completely undergone contextual modulation is brought upon one's perception.

Iconic memory for position is often characterized as "vast" or "limitless." Yet typical studies of iconic memory have used only small stimulus sets and have restricted judgments to categorical visual content like letter identities or object features, the kinds of items that are known to be subject to very restrictive bottlenecks in recognition or working memory. To test whether iconic memory has greater capacity for purely spatial information, we measured the ability of observers to notice discrete illuminated positions in a yes/no partial report task. Contrary to the notion of limitless capacity, we found that observers could report only a fraction of the presented positions when the stimulus set contained dozens of items. These limitations were likely due to crowding, a fundamental constraint on the ability to report precise spatial information. Our results highlight that, at least in certain perceptual contexts, iconic memory for spatial position is far more limited than sometimes assumed.