Affective matching moderates S–R binding

We investigated the moderating influence of affective matching on S–R binding processes in a sequential priming study in which positive and negative nouns had to be categorised as referring to a person or to an object. Irrelevant positive and negative distractor words (adjectives) were integrated with responses into S–R episodes if they had the same valence as the target (affective match condition). In this case, repeating the prime distractor in the probe led to a retrieval of the prime response, which facilitated performance for response repetition sequences but had no effect on performance when responses changed between prime and probe. However, if target and distractor had different valences (affective mismatch condition), no interaction of distractor relation and response relation occurred, indicating that distractors were less likely to be associated with responses into event files during the prime trial episode. Findings reveal that affective mismatches are detected automatically and modulate a binding of irrelevant information with responses.     

Retrieval of incidental stimulus-response associations as a source of negative priming

Priming effects of ignored distractor words were investigated in a task-switching situation that allowed an orthogonal variation of priming and response compatibility between prime and probe. Across 3 experiments, the authors obtained a disordinal interaction of priming and response relation. Responding was delayed in the ignored repetition condition if different responses were required for identical stimuli in the prime and probe (negative priming). Repeating the prime distractor in the probe facilitated responding if the same response was required in the prime and in the probe (positive priming). The same pattern of results was replicated in a letter-matching task without task switching (Experiment 4). Findings lend support to a new model that explains negative priming in terms of an automatic retrieval of incidental stimulus-response associations.     

Binding targets’ responses to distractors’ locations: Distractor response bindings in a location-priming task

Responses to target stimuli can be encoded together with distracting objects accompanying these targets into a single stimulus-response episode or a single event file. Repeating any object of such an episode can trigger the response encoded in this episode. Hence, repeating a distractor may retrieve the response given to the target that was accompanied by this distractor. In the present experiments, we analyzed whether the binding of target responses to the distractor can be generalized even to the location of a distractor. In two experiments, we used a location-based prime-probe task and found that repeating the location of a distractor triggered the response to the target that had previously been accompanied by a distractor in the repeated location, even if the identity of the distractor changed from the prime to the probe.     

Retrieval of event files can be conceptually mediated

Distractor-based retrieval of event files was assessed with a sequential priming experiment using a four-choice identification task. Pictures or sounds of four different animals (frog, chicken, lamb, singing bird) had to be categorized by pressing one of four keys. On each trial, a target and a distractor stimulus were presented simultaneously in different modalities. The relevant modality switched randomly between trials. Distractor repetition effects were modulated by the response relation between the prime and probe: Repeating the prime distractor in the probe produced facilitation if the response repeated, but not if a different response had to be given in the prime and probe. Repeating the prime distractor in the probe led to an automatic retrieval of the prime response. Importantly, this distractor-based response retrieval effect also emerged for those sequences in which the modality of the repeated distractor was switched between the prime and probe. This cross-modal priming effect indicates that distractors were integrated into event files on a conceptual level and that response retrieval processes were mediated by conceptual codes of the distractor stimuli.     

情绪评价任务中抑郁个体的分心抑制机制实验研究

本实验使用情绪负启动技术,在情绪评价任务中考察了抑郁个体和正常被试对正、负情绪词分心抑制方面的差异。结果显示,与控制条件下相比,非抑郁控制组被试在负启动条件下对探测显示中正、负性靶子词的反应时间更长;抑郁个体只表现在对探测显示中正性靶子词反应时的延长,负性靶子词未出现负启动效应。结果说明,抑郁个体对负性信息存在抑制机制障碍,对负性信息的偏向与选择性注意中的维持成分有关。这提示心理治疗家应该注重训练抑郁个体对负性信息的抑制能力,预防抑郁复发的目标应集中在注意持续的控制上。     

The Effects of Cueing Target Location and Response Mode on Interference and Negative Priming Using a Visual Selection Paradigm

Two experiments are reported that examine the effects of cueing the location of a target in the prime display on interference and subsequent negative priming. The prime and probe displays comprised two words, a target and a distractor. In the prime display, the two words were either the same (response compatible) or different (response incompatible). The target in the probe display was unrelated to the prime distractor (control), the same word as the distractor (ignored repetition), or semantically related to the distractor (ignored semantic repetition). In Experiment 1, cueing the location of the prime target significantly reduced the interference effect but not the subsequent identity negative priming (NP) effect. In contrast, not cueing the prime target resulted in the elimination of the identity NP. There was no evidence of semantic NP in this experiment. In Experiment 2, where a categorization response was required, significant interference was obtained in the prime display that was not influenced by cueing the location of the target. Although there was significant semantic NP, identity NP failed to reach significance. The two experiments were analysed together, and findings are discussed in relation to current models of negative priming.     

Impulsivity and anxiety differences in cognitive inhibition

An identity negative priming task was employed to investigate cognitive inhibition in 245 undergraduates. The task presented consecutively a prime and a probe display that contained a target and a distractor. Negative priming is observed when subjects must respond to a target in the probe display that had been a distractor in the prime display. This task also served to study the Eriksen interference effect by comparing a condition in which the target and the distractor had the same identity with a condition in which they had different identities. Subjects completed the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire designed to measure Gray's anxiety and impulsivity dimensions. Results showed that impulsives had a lower cognitive inhibition than non-impulsives, whereas impulsive women also showed a greater Eriksen interference effect than non-impulsive women. Furthermore, no differences in task performance were found between anxious and non-anxious groups. Our discussion considers the importance of studying cognitive functioning in personality research.     

The horserace between distractors and targets: Retrieval-based probe responding depends on distractor–target asynchrony

According to models assuming binding of stimulus and response features, any features can be integrated into a compound (consisting of stimulus and response features) and stored in episodic memory, even features irrelevant to the task. Reencountering any part of such an episode can retrieve the entire episode (or “event file”), including the response. That is, even the repeated presentation of a distractor can retrieve a response given to a target stimulus accompanied by this very distractor. We analysed how distractor-induced retrieval of an event-file competes with the response generation process triggered by the target by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony of targets and distractors. In particular, we used a selection task with prime–probe sequences and asynchronous onset of distractors and targets on the probe. Distractor-induced retrieval was only observed if the probe distractor appeared before or simultaneously with the probe target but not if the probe distractor appeared after probe target onset.     

To be or not to be...included in an event file: integration and retrieval of distractors in stimulus-response episodes is influenced by perceptual grouping

The binding of stimulus and response features into stimulus-response (S-R) episodes or "event files" is a basic process for the efficient control of behavior. However, relevant information is usually accompanied by information that is irrelevant for the selection of action. Recent studies showed that even irrelevant information is bound into event files. In this study, we investigated the boundary conditions of distractor-response binding and subsequent distractor-based response retrieval processes. In particular, we tested whether the inclusion of distractor information into S-R episodes is modulated by whether the distractor and target stimulus are perceived as belonging to the same object or as belonging to different objects. We argue that distracting information is only bound into S-R episodes if it is perceived as belonging to the same object as the relevant information, whereas no binding occurs when the distracting information is perceived as belonging to a separate object. In 6 experiments, we found evidence for the modulation of distractor-response bindings according to perceptual grouping principles.     

Connection between the evaluation of positive or negative valence and verbal responses to a lexical decision making task]

Evaluation of the positive or negative valence of a stimulus is an activity that is part of any emotional experience that has been mostly studied using the affective priming paradigm. When the prime and the target have the same valence (e.g. positive prime and positive target), the target response is facilitated as a function of opposing valence conditions (e.g. negative prime and positive target). These studies show that this evaluation is automatic but depends on the nature of the task's implied response because the priming effects are only observed for positive responses, not for negative responses. This result was explained in automatic judgmental tendency model put forth by Abelson and Rosenberg (1958) and Klauer and Stern (1992). In this model, affective priming assumes there is an overlap between both responses, the first response taking precedence as a function of the prime-target valence, and the second response one that is required by the task. We are assuming that another type of response was not foreseen under this model. In fact, upon activating the valence for each of the prime-target elements, two preliminary responses would be activated before the response on the prime-target valence relationship. These responses are directly linked to the prime and target evaluation independently of the prime-target relationship. This hypothesis can be linked to the larger hypothesis whereby the evaluative process is related to two distinct motivational systems corresponding to approach and avoidance behaviour responses (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1990; Neuman & Strack, 2000; Cacciopo, Piester & Bernston, 1993). In this study, we use the hypothesis that when a word leads to a positive valence evaluation, this favours a positive verbal response and inversely, a negative valence word favours a negative response. We are testing this hypothesis outside the affective priming paradigm to study to what extent evaluating a word, even when it is not primed, activates both motivational systems and consequently, positive verbal responses for approach and negative responses for avoidance. To validate this hypothesis, we are re-using both versions of the lexical decision task proposed by Wentura (2000). The classic version leads participants to a positive response for words, and the modified version leads to a no response. This experiment, carried out with thirty-two participants, measures the influence on response time of two experimental factors, the intrasubject valence of words (positive and negative) and the inter-subject factor (yes and no responses to words). Results show an interaction between the type of response and word valence. It is temporally more onerous to give a no response to positive words than to negative words. This result confirms that there is a direct relation between the evaluation of a valence stimulus and the response to this stimulus, a relation that had up to now been essentially observed with motor behaviours, and more rarely with verbal responses. We propose integrating the existence of this link between evaluation and verbal response (yes and no) in interpreting the effects of affective priming.     

整体-局部范式下的负启动效应

在通常的负启动范式基础上 ,以小数字构成的大数字 ,即以同时具有整体特征和局部特征的复合数字为实验材料 ,采用数字命名任务 ,将刺激画面中复合数字的数目和注意指向作为变量进行实验。大学生充任被试。结果发现 ,在单个复合数字条件下对同一客体的非注意指向的特征进行忽略重复 ,注意整体时出现负启动 ,而注意局部时不出现负启动 ;在两个复合数字条件下对启动刺激中充当干扰项的复合数字进行忽略重复 ,则注意整体与注意局部都出现了负启动。该研究表明 ,在不同注意指向时 ,整体 -局部范式下的负启动效应具有知觉组织的层次性 ,并显示出客体内选择和客体间选择对负启动的不同影响。     

Distractor-response bindings in dual task scenarios

If a response is executed in reaction to a target stimulus, accompanying distractor stimuli can be integrated with and later on retrieve this response, an effect called distractor-response binding. There has been some debate as to whether S-R binding is generally influenced by attentional processes and in particular the role of attentional processes for the binding of irrelevant stimuli and responses is unclear. We therefore analyze the impact of spatial input attention while engaging central attention in an additional task. In particular, participants worked in dual task situations that induced load on central attention while the distribution of spatial attention was manipulated by varying the location of the different tasks. Distractor-response binding occurred only if both tasks were presented in the same spatial location. In contrast, binding effects within one task were prevented if spatial attention was withdrawn from the task by presenting a second task in a separate area. It is concluded that input but no central attention is required for the integration of distractor stimuli and responses. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Target localization among concurrent sound sources: No evidence for the inhibition of previous distractor responses

The visuospatial negative priming effect—that is, the slowed-down responding to a previously ignored location—is partly due to response inhibition associated with the previously ignored location (Buckolz, Goldfarb, & Khan, Perception & Psychophysics 66:837-845 2004). We tested whether response inhibition underlies spatial negative priming in the auditory modality as well. Eighty participants localized a target sound while ignoring a simultaneous distractor sound at another location. Eight possible sound locations were arranged in a semicircle around the participant. Pairs of adjacent locations were associated with the same response. On ignored repetition trials, the probe target sound was played from the same location as the previously ignored prime sound. On response control trials, prime distractor and probe target were played from different locations but were associated with the same response. On control trials, prime distractor and probe target shared neither location nor response. A response inhibition account predicts slowed-down responding when the response associated with the prime distractor has to be executed in the probe. There was no evidence of response inhibition in audition. Instead, the negative priming effect depended on whether the sound at the repeatedly occupied location changed identity between prime and probe. The latter result replicates earlier findings and supports the feature mismatching hypothesis, while the former is compatible with the assumption that response inhibition is irrelevant in auditory spatial attention.     

Locus of single-prime negative priming: The role of perceptual form

Single-prime negative priming refers to the phenomenon in which after a single prime word is briefly presented, repeating it as the probe target results in a delay in responding to the target. The present study investigated the locus of this negative priming effect. Experiment 1 showed that repeating the identity of the prime produced a negative priming effect but merely repeating the response of the prime did not. Experiment 2 showed that the negative priming effect transformed into positive priming when the probe distractor was absent. Experiments 3 and 4 further revealed that single-prime negative priming was observed when the perceptual form was repeated. Taken together, these results suggest that single-prime negative priming involves a perceptual locus.     

乐观者积极而务实？基于情绪和中性词分心抑制的证据

本研究采用负启动范式,从乐观特质连续谱上选择乐观、中性和悲观三组个体,考察他们对情绪和中性词的分心抑制。实验一以情绪词为材料发现,当启动分心词为负性时,乐观组出现负启动;分心词为正性时悲观组出现负启动;无论分心词为正或负,中性组均出现了负启动。实验二以中性词为材料发现,仅悲观组和中性组出现负启动。说明乐观个体对正性和中性信息不实施分心抑制。这可能与注意在这些刺激上的维持及乐观个体拥有积极的认知图式有关。本研究为乐观个体积极而务实的行为提供了一定依据。     

乐观者积极而务实？基于情绪和中性词分心抑制的证据

本研究采用负启动范式,从乐观特质连续谱上选择乐观、中性和悲观三组个体,考察他们对情绪和中性词的分心抑制。实验一以情绪词为材料发现,当启动分心词为负性时,乐观组出现负启动;分心词为正性时悲观组出现负启动;无论分心词为正或负,中性组均出现了负启动。实验二以中性词为材料发现,仅悲观组和中性组出现负启动。说明乐观个体对正性和中性信息不实施分心抑制。这可能与注意在这些刺激上的维持及乐观个体拥有积极的认知图式有关。本研究为乐观个体积极而务实的行为提供了一定依据。     

Negative priming without probe selection

Responses to an object may be slower or less accurate if that object shares attributes with a recently ignored object(negative priming). Some studies have found negative priming only if the probe trial required selection against a distractor stimulus. In the present experiment, subjects responded to the location of a target (O), ignoring a distractor (X) if it appeared in another location. Reaction time was slower to probe targets that appeared in the same location as the prime distractor, regardless of whether or not the probe target was accompanied by a distractor.     

The error protection impact of inhibitory after-effects in a location-based task and its preservation with practice

In location-based tasks, responses related to (prime trial) distractor-occupied locations automatically undergo activation, followed by inhibition, which causes these responses to become execution-resistant (ER). Distractor-response ER takes time to override, delaying target reactions that later require this response (e.g., probe, ignored-repetition trials), causing the spatial negative priming (SNP) phenomenon. We learned in this study that distractor-response ER affords this output a degree of error protection. Specifically, when the probe target appeared at a new location, former (prime) distractor responses were used erroneously significantly less often than their control response counterparts, likely due to their ER feature, which discourages their inappropriate selection (i.e., “ER” provides error protection). This error protection also was evident when a previous distractor response was activated by a distractor on the probe (i.e., distractor-repeat trial). Notably, error protection remained effective over extensive practice, as did SNP size (i.e., ER override time) after an initial decline.     

The role of selection in generating auditory negative priming

The importance of selecting between a target and a distractor in producing auditory negative priming was examined in three experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with a prime pair of sounds, followed by a probe pair of sounds. For each pair, listeners were to identify the sound presented to the left ear. Under these conditions, participants were especially slow to identify a sound in the probe pair if it had been ignored in the preceding prime pair. Evidence of auditory negative priming was also apparent when the prime sound was presented in isolation to only one ear (Experiment 2) and when the probe target was presented in isolation to one ear (Experiment 3). In addition, the magnitude of the negative priming effect was increased substantially when only a single prime sound was presented. These results suggest that the emergence of auditory negative priming does not depend on selection between simultaneous target and distractor sounds.     

Spatial negative priming modulation: The influence of probe-trial target cueing,distractor presence,and an intervening response

Reaction times are slower when a target (T) appears at a location that has just contained a distractor (D) (ignored-repetition trial), relative to when it arises at a previously unoccupied spatial position (control trial), i.e., the spatial negative priming (NP) effect. In a typical spatial NP paradigm trials are presented in pairs, first the prime and then the probe. Validly cueing ignored-repetition trials, and/or reducing probe distractor probability, modulated the NP process under certain conditions following target-plus-distractor (prime response) but not after distractor-only (no prime response) primes. This supported the idea that the production of a prime (intervening) response meets the needs for producing NP modulation. Additionally, NP elimination, evident when the probe was randomly distractor-free, was not seen when the probe also contained a distractor event. This suggests that the removal of the NP effect is likely achieved by blocking the retrieval of prime distractor information, rather than by removing the NP cause. Seemingly, the presence of a probe distractor is able to bypass the retrieval block.