When more is less: a counterintuitive effect of distractor frequency in the picture-word interference paradigm

Pictures were shown with superimposed word distractors of high and low frequency. Low-frequency distractors produced greater interference on picture naming than did high-frequency distractors. This distractor frequency effect was not affected by manipulations that facilitated or hindered distractor recognition. Interference was reduced for distractors that were read aloud several times prior to being shown in the picture-naming task. Together these findings suggest that the distractor frequency effect has its locus at some stage of lexical access for production. Other findings further constrain hypotheses about which level of speech production is involved in the effect. The distractor frequency effect has implications for models of lexical processing in speaking as well as for accounts of picture-word interference and the frequency effect.     

Successful differential evaluative conditioning using simultaneous and trace conditioning procedures in the picture-picture paradigm

This paper describes a study designed to investigate the efficacy of two traditional classical conditioning procedures in generating evaluative conditioning (EC) in the picture-picture paradigm in human participants. Differential EC was found using both simultaneous and trace conditioning procedures. In addition, the use of a block-subblock (BSB) nonpaired control condition and full counterbalancing of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-UCS) pairings across participants indicated that the observed EC effects were the result of associative learning. Examination of whether successful conditioning could take place with or without conscious awareness of CS-UCS contingencies was inconclusive. The results provide evidence for EC as an associative process and also provide some insight into the possible conditioning parameters that might successfully generate EC.     

Evaluative conditioning in the picture-picture paradigm with random assignment of conditioned stimuli to unconditioned stimuli

Human participants were allocated to 1 of 3 groups. In the conditioning group, each conditioned stimulus (CS)-unconditioned stimulus (US) pair was presented 7 times during the acquisition phase. Participants who were assigned to the extinction group saw 5 additional presentations of each CS in isolation after the 7 presentations of each CS-US pair. In the latent inhibition group, the CS-only trials were presented before the CS-US trials. Overall, a significant evaluative conditioning effect was observed. This effect cannot be dismissed on the basis of the arguments developed by A. P. Field and G. C. L. Davey (1997, 1998, 1999), and the results thus provide strong evidence for the associative nature of evaluative conditioning. The results are also in line with other findings, which showed that evaluative conditioning is resistant to extinction.     

The cognitive loci of the display and task-relevant set size effects on distractor interference: Evidence from a dual-task paradigm

The congruency effect of a task-irrelevant distractor has been found to be modulated by task-relevant set size and display set size. The present study used a psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm to examine the cognitive loci of the display set size effect (dilution effect) and the task-relevant set size effect (perceptual load effect) on distractor interference. A tone discrimination task (Task 1), in which a response was made to the pitch of the target tone, was followed by a letter discrimination task (Task 2) in which different types of visual target display were used. In Experiment 1, in which display set size was manipulated to examine the nature of the display set size effect on distractor interference in Task 2, the modulation of the congruency effect by display set size was observed at both short and long stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs), indicating that the display set size effect occurred after the target was selected for processing in the focused attention stage. In Experiment 2, in which task-relevant set size was manipulated to examine the nature of the task-relevant set size effect on distractor interference in Task 2, the effects of task-relevant set size increased with SOA, suggesting that the target selection efficiency in the preattentive stage was impaired with increasing task-relevant set size. These results suggest that display set size and task-relevant set size modulate distractor processing in different ways.     

The role of prefrontal cortex in resolving distractor interference

We investigate the hypothesis that those subregions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) found to support proactive interference resolution may also support delay-spanning distractor interference resolution. Ten subjects performed delayed-recognition tasks requiring working memory for faces or shoes during functional MRI scanning. During the 15-sec delay interval, task-irrelevant distractors were presented. These distractors were either all faces or all shoes and were thus either congruent or incongruent with the domain of items in the working memory task. Delayed-recognition performance was slower and less accurate during congruent than during incongruent trials. Our fMRI analyses revealed significant delay interval activity for face and shoe working memory tasks within both dorsal and ventral PFC. However, only ventral PFC activity was modulated by distractor category, with greater activity for congruent than for incongruent trials. Importantly, this congruency effect was only present for correct trials. In addition to PFC, activity within the fusiform face area was investigated. During face distraction, activity was greater for face relative to shoe working memory. As in ventrolateral PFC, this congruency effect was only present for correct trials. These results suggest that the ventrolateral PFC and fusiform face area may work together to support delay-spanning interference resolution.     

Ignoring famous faces: category-specific dilution of distractor interference

The extent to which famous distractor faces can be ignored was assessed in six experiments. Subjects categorized famous printed target names as those of pop stars or politicians, while attempting to ignore a flanking famous face distractor that could be congruent (e.g, a politician's name and face) or incongruent (e.g., a politician's name with a pop stars face). Congruency effects on reaction times indicated distractor intrusion. An additional, response-neutral flanker (neither pop star nor politician) could also be present. Congruency effects from the critical distractor face were reduced (diluted) by the presence of an intact anonymous face, but not by phase-shifted versions, inverted faces, or meaningful nonface objects. By contrast, congruency effects from other types of distracting objects (musical instruments, fruits), when printed names for these classes were categorized, were diluted equivalently by intact faces, phase-shifted faces, or meaningful nonface objects. Our results suggest that distractor faces act differently from other types of distractors, suffering from only face-specific capacity limits.     

On the categorical nature of the semantic interference effect in the picture-word interference paradigm

Two picture-word interference experiments are reported in which the boundaries of the semantic interference effect are explored. In both experiments, participants named pictures (e.g., a picture of a car) that appeared with superimposed word distractors. Distractor words from the same semantic category as the word for the picture (e.g., CAR) produced semantic interference, whereas semantically related distractors from a different category (e.g.,Bumper) led to semantic facilitation. In Experiment 2, the semantic facilitation from semantically related distractors was replicated. These results indicate that a semantic relationship between picture and distractor does not necessarily lead to interference and in fact can lead to facilitation. In all but one case tested until now, a semantic relationship between picture and distractor has led to semantic facilitation. The implications of these results for the assumption that the semantic interference effect arises as a consequence of lexical competition are discussed.     

Reactivation-induced interference in a short-term retention paradigm

In Experiment 1 it was demonstrated that interference with a rat's retention of a target spatial cue decreases as the interval between prior conflicting cues and the target increases. Experiment 2 showed that interference can occur even when the interstimulus interval is long, if the memory of a conflicting cue is reactivated just prior to exposing an animal to the target cue. A third experiment suggested that these findings could not be easily interpreted in terms of a stimulus satiation effect. The implications of these findings for a trace decay model of short-term retention were discussed.     

The distractor frequency effect in a delayed picture-word interference task: further evidence for a late locus of distractor exclusion

A picture-word interference experiment examined the origin of the distractor frequency effect, the effect that pictures are named slower in the context of low-frequency than high-frequency words (Miozzo &; Caramazza, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 132, 228–252, 2003). We compared two accounts of the effect: an early, input-related account and a late, response-related account. Participants named high and low-frequency pictures with low and high-frequency distractors in two conditions. In the immediate naming condition, picture and distractor were presented simultaneously. In the delayed naming condition, the distractor was presented 1,000 ms after the picture; pictures had to be named upon distractor presentation. There was a distractor frequency effect in both conditions, but an effect of picture frequency only in the immediate naming condition (showing that in the delayed naming condition, lexical selection had been completed). These results support a late origin of the distractor frequency effect.     

The effects of acute stress and perceptual load on distractor interference

Selective attention can be improved under conditions in which a high perceptual load is assumed to exhaust cognitive resources, leaving scarce resources for distractor processing. The present study examined whether perceptual load and acute stress share common attentional resources by manipulating perceptual and stress loads. Participants identified a target within an array of nontargets that were flanked by compatible or incompatible distractors. Attentional selectivity was measured by longer reaction times in response to the incompatible than to the compatible distractors. Participants in the stress group participated in a speech test that increased anxiety and threatened self-esteem. The effect of perceptual load interacted with the stress manipulation in that participants in the control group demonstrated an interference effect under the low perceptual load condition, whereas such interference disappeared under the high perceptual load condition. Importantly, the stress group showed virtually no interference under the low perceptual load condition, whereas substantial interference occurred under the high perceptual load condition. These results suggest that perceptual and stress related demands consume the same attentional resources.     

The effects of acute stress and perceptual load on distractor interference

Selective attention can be improved under conditions in which a high perceptual load is assumed to exhaust cognitive resources, leaving scarce resources for distractor processing. The present study examined whether perceptual load and acute stress share common attentional resources by manipulating perceptual and stress loads. Participants identified a target within an array of nontargets that were flanked by compatible or incompatible distractors. Attentional selectivity was measured by longer reaction times in response to the incompatible than to the compatible distractors. Participants in the stress group participated in a speech test that increased anxiety and threatened self-esteem. The effect of perceptual load interacted with the stress manipulation in that participants in the control group demonstrated an interference effect under the low perceptual load condition, whereas such interference disappeared under the high perceptual load condition. Importantly, the stress group showed virtually no interference under the low perceptual load condition, whereas substantial interference occurred under the high perceptual load condition. These results suggest that perceptual and stress related demands consume the same attentional resources.     

Levels of coding in picture-picture comparison tasks

Two experiments are reported in which subjects had to match pairs of pictures of objects. "Same" pairs could be either identical (Ps), pictures of different views of the same object (Pv), or pictures of different objects having the same name (Pd). With line drawings as stimuli, RTs for Condition Ps were shorter than for Condition Pv, which in turn were shorter than for Condition Pd. Visual similarity had no effect on Pd RTs. However, in Experiment II, where photographs of objects with high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) names were used, no difference was found between Conditions Ps(HF), Ps(LF) and Condition Pv(HF); and no difference occurred between Conditions Pd(HF), Pd(LF) and Condition Pv(LF), the latter set of conditions being associated with longer RTs than the former. This pattern of results was found with both a .25-sec and a 2-sec ISI. The results are discussed in terms of the levels of coding involved in processing information from picture stimuli. It is concluded that at least two levels are involved in matching photographs of real objects (an object-code level and a nonvisual semantic code level), while a third level may be used in matching tasks involving stylized line drawings (a picture-code level).     

The role of distractor inhibition in the attentional boost effect: evidence from the R/K paradigm

ABSTRACT

Stimuli presented with targets in a detection task are later recognised more accurately than those presented with distractors, an unusual effect labelled the attentional boost effect (ABE). This effect may reflect an enhancement triggered by target detection, the inhibition of distractor rejection, or some combination of both. To test these possibilities, the present study adopted a baseline similar to that of Swallow and Jiang ([2014b]. The attentional boost effect really is a boost: evidence from a new baseline. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 76(5), 1298–1307); the goal was to separate target-induced enhancements from distractor-induced inhibition. An R/K procedure was applied to further explore the kind of memory that might be affected by target detection or distractor rejection. The results show that the memory advantage for target-paired words was robust relative to that of baseline words; this advantage was mainly observed in R responses. More importantly, a memory reduction was also observed for distractor-paired words relative to baseline words, though this reduction was only observed in R responses. These data led us to conclude that the ABE was triggered by both processes: target-induced enhancement and distractor-induced inhibition. Moreover, both processes were more likely to affect recollection-based recognition.     

The interaction between stop signal inhibition and distractor interference in the flanker and Stroop task

In the present study, two experiments were conducted to investigate the interaction between the behavioral inhibition, measured by the stop signal task, and distractor interference, measured by the flanker task and the Stroop task. In the first experiment, the stop signal task was combined with a flanker task. Analysis revealed that participants responded faster when the distractors were congruent to the target. Also, the data suggest that it is more difficult to suppress a reaction when the distractors were incongruent. Whether the incongruent distractor was part of the response set (i.e. the distractor could also be a target) or not, had no influence on stopping reactions. In the second experiment, the stop signal task was combined with a manual version of the Stroop task and the degree of compatibility was varied. Even though in the second experiment of the present study interference control is differently operationalized, similar results as in the first experiment were found, indicating that inhibition of motor responses is influenced by the presentation of distracting information that is not part of the response set.     

Presentation modality and proactive interference in short-term retention using a mixed-morality distractor task

Two experiments investigated the release from PI following a shift in mode of presentation of the study words. In each experiment, the interpolated task required processing of both auditory (A) and visual (V) information. The results were the same with mixed lists (Experiment I) and with independent groups (Experiment II): A release from PI was obtained following an A to V shift but not following a V to A shift. It was concluded that the mixed-modality filler task has functional characteristics very similar to those of an A filler and that the filler task influences the memory code for study items.     

Retrieval of names in face and object naming in an interference study

Two experiments using the interference paradigm are reported. In the first experiment, the participants spoke aloud the names of celebrities and the names of objects when presented with pictures while hearing distractors. In the case of proper names, we replicated the data obtained by Izaute and Bonin (2001) using the interference paradigm with a proper name written naming task. In the case of common names, the results replicated those obtained by Shriefers, Meyer, and Levelt (1990). In the second experiment, the participants produced the names of celebrities when presented with their faces while hearing distractors that were either proper names associated with the celebrities (associate condition), that belonged to a different professional category (different condition), or that corresponded to the proper names of the celebrities (identical condition). For negative SOAs, "associate" distractors were found to increase latencies compared to the "different category" condition. The implications of the findings for proper name retrieval are briefly discussed.     

Retrieval of names in face and object naming in an interference study

Two experiments using the interference paradigm are reported. In the first experiment, the participants spoke aloud the names of celebrities and the names of objects when presented with pictures while hearing distractors. In the case of proper names, we replicated the data obtained by Izaute and Bonin (2001) using the interference paradigm with a proper name written naming task. In the case of common names, the results replicated those obtained by Shriefers, Meyer, and Levelt (1990). In the second experiment, the participants produced the names of celebrities when presented with their faces while hearing distractors that were either proper names associated with the celebrities (associate condition), that belonged to a different professional category (different condition), or that corresponded to the proper names of the celebrities (identical condition). For negative SOAs, “associate” distractors were found to increase latencies compared to the “different category” condition. The implications of the findings for proper name retrieval are briefly discussed.     

Top-down and bottom-up attentional control: On the nature of interference from a salient distractor

In two experiments using spatial probes, we measured the temporal and spatial interactions between top-down control of attention and bottom-up interference from a salient distractor in visual search. The subjects searched for a square among circles, ignoring color. Probe response times showed that a color singleton distractor could draw attention to its location in the early stage of visual processing (before a 100-msec stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA]), but only when the color singleton distractor was located far from the target. Apparently the bottom-up activation of the singleton distractor’s location is affected early on by local interactions with nearby stimulus locations. Moreover, probe results showed that a singleton distractor did not receive attention after extended practice. These results suggest that top-down control of attention is possible at an early stage of visual processing. In the long-SOA condition (150-msec SOA), spatial attention selected the target location over distractor locations, and this tendency occurred with or without extended practice.     

Semantic interference from distractor pictures in single-picture naming: evidence for competitive lexical selection

Picture-naming studies have demonstrated interference from semantic-categorically related distractor words, but not from corresponding distractor pictures, and the lack of generality of the interference effect has been argued to challenge theories viewing lexical selection in speech production as a competitive process. Here, we demonstrate that semantic interference from context pictures does become visible, if sufficient attention is allocated to them. We combined picture naming with a spatial-cuing procedure. When participants’ attention was shifted to the distractor, semantically related distractor pictures interfered with the response, as compared with unrelated distractor pictures. This finding supports models conceiving lexical retrieval as competitive (Levelt, Roelofs, & Meyer, 1999) but is difficult to reconcile with the response exclusion hypothesis (Finkbeiner & Caramazza, 2006b) proposed as an alternative.