场景在价值驱动注意捕获中的作用

本研究采用训练-测试范式考察场景信息在价值驱动注意捕获中的作用。实验1训练阶段将唯一性的场景信息与奖励建立联结,测试阶段发现只有当分心刺激出现在高奖励场景中才能捕获注意;实验2训练阶段将场景和颜色信息联合但分别独立预测奖励,结果发现高奖励颜色出现在任何场景中都能捕获注意。研究结果表明:(1)场景-价值联结能够引发注意捕获效应;(2)与场景相比,颜色特征在价值驱动的注意捕获中具有优势效应。     

特征和位置信息在价值驱动注意捕获中的作用

本研究采用训练−测试范式考察颜色和位置信息在价值驱动注意捕获中的作用。实验1考察是否存在基于具体位置的价值驱动的注意捕获效应。在训练阶段, 被试对8个位置中两个位置出现的红色目标反应伴随着高奖励反馈, 而对另外两个位置出现的红色目标反应伴随着低奖励反馈, 其它4个位置为中性位置, 没有目标出现。在测试阶段, 一半试次中红色刺激作为分心物出现。结果发现, 只有当分心刺激出现在高奖励位置和两个高奖励位置之间的中性位置时才能够捕获注意; 实验2考察颜色和位置信息在价值驱动注意捕获中的交互作用。在训练阶段, 将颜色特征和位置信息联合起来进行学习。在测试阶段, 和高、低奖励相联结的颜色刺激各在1/3试次中作为分心物出现。结果发现, 只有当高奖励颜色出现在高奖励位置或出现在高奖励位置之间的中性位置时才能够捕获注意。研究结果表明：(1)位置联结的价值驱动的注意捕获效应能够泛化到特定邻近位置上; (2)个体在训练阶段将颜色和位置的联合特征与奖励建立联结, 训练阶段建立的联结不能泛化到部分特征上。价值驱动注意捕获效应的泛化具有选择性。     

自上而下的目标调节奖赏联结干扰子的注意定向和脱离

近年来传统的注意控制理论已经无法解释部分注意控制现象,有研究者提出将奖赏联结/价值驱动的注意捕获作为一种新的注意引导源。奖赏联结的注意捕获是否会受到自上而下的目标定势的调节已成为该领域一个重要的理论问题。研究采用空间线索范式的变式,探讨了奖赏联结干扰子与目标的相关性对奖赏联结注意捕获中的定向和脱离的调节作用。研究结果发现:当学习阶段习得的奖赏联结干扰子在测验阶段与目标相关时(实验1),有奖干扰子相对于无奖干扰子具有优先的注意定向和延迟脱离;而学习阶段习得的奖赏联结干扰子在测验阶段与目标无关时(实验2),有奖干扰子和无奖干扰子在注意定向和脱离方面均无显著差异。由此可见,奖赏联结的注意捕获并不是完全自动化的,自上而下的目标定势能够调节其注意定向和脱离的成分,支持奖赏联结的注意捕获与自上而下的目标定势交互引导视觉注意的观点。     

无关工作记忆表征的负性情绪信息能否捕获视觉注意?一项眼动研究

研究通过分析视觉搜索任务的首次注视点和行为反应时, 探讨无关工作记忆表征的负性情绪信息对视觉注意选择的影响。实验1发现在反映早期注意选择的首次注视点百分率指标上, 不管工作记忆表征的情绪效价如何, 均出现了显著的注意捕获效应; 实验2发现当采用中性情绪靶子刺激时, 首次注视点百分率指标上仍表现出了稳健的注意捕获效应; 在首次注视点持续时间指标上, 实验1和实验2均发现记忆匹配条件的干扰刺激显著小于控制条件的干扰刺激, 表现出注意的快速脱离; 而在行为反应时指标上, 早期的注意捕获效应消失(实验1), 甚至被反转为注意抑制效应(实验2)。这些结果表明在早期注意选择阶段, 记忆驱动的注意捕获效应不受工作记忆表征情绪效价的影响, 但认知控制会在早期注意捕获之后促使注意快速脱离记忆匹配的干扰刺激, 其作用效果受靶子刺激情绪效价的调节。     

自上而下任务定势影响基于关系的注意捕获

采用空间线索化范式,考察在有无任务定势的强化下对涉及关系信息的注意捕获的影响。实验一在线索呈现和目标呈现中分别设置线索颜色关系和靶刺激颜色关系,要求被试在二者关系一致与否两种情况下对目标呈现中颜色奇异的靶刺激进行辨别。实验二在原有的颜色关系的基础上,要求被试忽略目标呈现中某一颜色关系条件下的靶刺激,限定只对另一颜色关系下的目标呈现进行任务反应。实验一结果显示无论颜色关系一致与否,颜色奇异项都优先捕获注意,注意捕获以自动化的形式呈现。实验二结果表明注意会选择性的指向与线索呈现中颜色关系相同的靶刺激而非单纯地捕获奇异颜色项。注意捕获可以基于"关系"模式而非具体的特征。总的来说,基于关系信息的注意捕获只有在建立很强的自上而下注意控制定势的条件下才能产生。     

大学生亲社会行为决策中自尊与情绪信息的交互作用

采用自编亲社会行为决策材料,以行为决策对象的被选频次为指标,通过对65名男女大学生的研究,结果发现：1）在阈上和阈下的＂图-词＂启动范式下,均存在显著的情绪启动效应,且实验性情绪变化明显。2）在正性图片启动下,自尊水平和情绪效价对亲社会行为决策均无显著影响,但二者的交互作用显著,低自尊个体在负性情绪下的亲社会行为决策存在显著性差异;行为决策对象对大学生亲社会行为决策有显著影响,与自尊水平、情绪效价之间的交互效应不显著;在负性图片启动下,自尊水平、情绪效价、行为决策对象以及三者的交互作用对亲社会行为决策均无显著影响。3）总体上,大学生亲社会行为决策受自尊水平与情绪效价的交互作用影响,也受行为决策对象及其与自尊水平、情绪效价的三次交互作用的影响。     

社会效价对预测群体成员行为的影响：群体规范和个人偏好在其中的作用（英文）

人们预测群体成员行为具有一致性。但行为具有不同的社会效价（积极和消极），本研究探讨了效价是否以及如何影响对群体行为一致性的预测。结果发现，人们预测积极效价的帮助行为在群体中保持一致性的程度高于消极效价的阻碍行为，且群体规范感知而非个人偏好感知在其中起中介作用；群体实体性调节对群体规范和个人偏好的感知，进而改变效价影响群体行为一致性预测的程度。因此，预测行为时人们会灵活考虑群体情境因素的制约作用。     

不同注意条件下的知觉启动及其机制

采用快速命名方法探讨不同注意条件下的知觉启动效应及其机制。实验中呈现一系列颜色词,要求被试分别完成集中和分散注意任务,然后进行词命名和再认测验。在词命名任务中．实验1包括旧词、重组颜色词和新词,而在实验2中重组颜色词改为新颜色词。结果表明,在实验1中,只有在集中注意条件下,被试对旧词的命名时间明显短于重组颜色词．即表现出知觉启动效应。而在实验2的两种注意条件下,被试对旧词的命名时间均明显短于新颜色词。这提示,在不同注意条件下的学习会影响其后的颜色知觉启动,并且与词和颜色的联结捆绑有关。     

高特质焦虑高中生对消极信息的注意和记忆偏向

研究比较高、低特质焦虑高中生对消极信息的注意和记忆模式。实验一采用情绪Stroop范式,让被试命名不同效价(积极、消极)的颜色词;实验二命被试回忆实验一情绪Stroop任务中出现过的词汇。结果表明,与低特质焦虑高中生相比,高特质焦虑高中生受词汇意义的干扰,在情绪Stroop任务中对颜色词命名速度减缓;在情绪Stroop任务后对消极词的回忆量显著多于对积极词的回忆量。研究推论,高特质焦虑高中生对环境中的消极信息存在记忆偏向,对环境中的任何情绪信息(积极或消极)均存在注意偏向。     

大学生决策的内隐偏向研究

分别运用外显的描述性范式和内隐联结测验两种方法对决策的比率偏好及其特性进行了考察,结果表明:(1)外显决策受到效价类型的影响,负效价情景下的比率偏好现象明显降低;(2)被试存在内隐比率偏好效应,这种偏好影响着被试对决策的认知和解释,具有一定的稳定性;(3)运用内隐联结测验来测量内隐比率偏好是有效、敏感的。(4)外显比率偏好与内隐比率偏好涉及决策的不同结构。     

Attentional capture by evaluative stimuli: Gain- and loss-connoting colors boost the additional-singleton effect

In a valence induction task, one color acquired positive valence by indicating the chance to win money (in the case of fast and correct responses), and a different color acquired negative valence by indicating the danger to lose money (in the case of slow or incorrect responses). In the additional-singleton trials of a visual search task, the task-irrelevant singleton color was either the positive one, the negative one, or one of two neutral colors. We found an additional-singleton effect (i.e., longer RTs with a singleton color than in the no-singleton control condition). This effect was significantly increased for the two valent colors (with no differences between them) relative to the two neutral colors (with no differences between them, either). This result favors the hypothesis that the general relevance of stimuli elicits attentional capture, rather than the negativity bias hypothesis.     

Attentional effects of negative faces: Top-down contingent or involuntary?

Recent research has substantiated that schematic negative faces are found more efficiently than positive faces among crowds of distractor faces of varying set sizes. The present study asks whether this relative search asymmetry (RSA) is intention driven or due to involuntary attentional capture. To that aim, participants were first tested in a condition in which negative and positive faces were searched for, and then in a condition in which negative or positive schematic faces appeared at chance level at the position of the target (valid trials) or of a distractor (invalid trials), the faces thus being task irrelevant (the 1/n paradigm). The expected search benefit for valid negative-face target trials most clearly occurred when participants searched for a target defined by a conjunction of color and position; when the target was defined either by an orientation or color singleton, we found rather weak or no evidence for involuntary attention capture by negative faces. We see the results as being (1) evidence that the RSA is partly based on stimulus-driven factors that occur independently of the intention to search for a positive or negative face, and (2) consistent with the assumption that the effects are mainly due to a more efficient rejection of positive-face than of negative-face distractors, rather than being due to attentional capture by the target     

Reduced attentional capture in action video game players

Recent studies indicate that playing action video games improves performance on a number of attention-based tasks. However, it remains unclear whether action video game experience primarily affects endogenous or exogenous forms of spatial orienting. To examine this issue, action video game players and non-action video game players performed an attentional capture task. The results show that action video game players responded quicker than non-action video game players, both when a target appeared in isolation and when a salient, task-irrelevant distractor was present in the display. Action video game players additionally showed a smaller capture effect than did non-action video game players. When coupled with the findings of previous studies, the collective evidence indicates that extensive experience with action video games may enhance players’ top-down attentional control, which, in turn, can modulate the negative effects of bottom-up attentional capture.     

Involuntary transfer of a top-down attentional set into the focus of attention: Evidence from a contingent attentional capture paradigm

In the present study, we investigated whether involuntarily directing attention to a target-colored distractor causes the corresponding attentional set to enter a limited-capacity focus of attention, thereby facilitating the identification of a subsequent target whose color matches the same attentional set. As predicted, in Experiment 1, contingent attentional capture effects from a target-colored distractor were only one half to one third as large when subsequent target identification relied on the same (vs. a different) attentional set. In Experiment 2, this effect was eliminated when all of the target colors matched the same attentional set, arguing against bottomup perceptual priming of the distractor’s color as an alternative account of our findings. In Experiment 3, this effect was reversed when a target-colored distractor appeared after the target, ruling out a feature-based interference account of our findings. We conclude that capacity limitations in working memory strongly influence contingent attentional capture when multiple attentional sets guide selection.     

Counter-regulation in affective attentional biases: a basic mechanism that warrants flexibility in emotion and motivation

We investigated whether anticipating positive or negative future outcomes during goal pursuit has a modulatory effect on attentional biases for affectively congruent and incongruent distractor stimuli. In two experiments using a flanker task, we found that distractor interference of stimuli signaling opportunities or dangers was stronger after inducing an outcome focus of the opposite valence. The second experiment provided additional evidence that the incongruency effect reflects a global shift in affective attentional biases and is not mediated by changes in strategies or in the perceived valence of the stimuli. It is argued that counter-regulation in affective attentional biases serves an important function for the regulation of emotion and action.     

Attentional capture decreases when distractors remain visible during rapid serial visual presentations

The identification of a central visual target is impaired by the onset of a peripheral distractor. This impairment is said to occur because attentional focus is diverted to the peripheral distractor. We examined whether distractor offset would enhance or reduce attentional capture by manipulating the duration of the distractor. Observers identified a color singleton among a rapid stream of homogeneous nontargets. Peripheral distractors disappeared 43 or 172 msec after onset (the short- and long-duration conditions, respectively). Identification accuracy was greater in the long-duration condition than in the short-duration condition. The same pattern of results was obtained when participants identified a target of a designated color among heterogeneous nontargets when the color of the distractor was the same as that of the target. These findings suggest that attentional capture consists of stimulus onset and offset, both of which are susceptible to top-down attentional set.     

Contingent orienting or contingent capture: A size singleton matching the target–distractor size relation cannot capture attention

In the present study, we examined whether a peripheral size-singleton distractor that matches the target–distractor size relation can capture attention and disrupt central target identification. Three experiments consistently showed that a size singleton that matches the target–distractor size relation cannot capture attention when it appears outside of the attentional window, even though the same size singleton produces a cuing effect. In addition, a color singleton that matches the target color, instead of a size singleton that matches the target–distractor size relation, captures attention when it is outside of the attentional window. Thus, a size-relation-matched distractor is much weaker than a color-matched distractor in capturing attention and cannot capture attention when the distractor appears outside of the attentional window.     

Contingent attentional capture occurs by activated target congruence

Contingent attentional capture occurs when a stimulus property captures an observer's attention, usually related to the observer's top-down attentional set for target-defining properties. In this study, we examined whether contingent attentional capture occurs for a distractor that does not share the target-defining property at a physical level, but does share that property at an abstract level of representation. In a rapid serial visual presentation stream, we defined the target by color (e.g., a green-colored Japanese kanji character). Before the target onset, we presented a distractor that referred to the target-defining color (e.g., a white-colored character meaning "green"). We observed contingent attentional capture by the distractor, which was reflected by a deficit in identifying the subsequent target. This result suggests that because of the attentional set, stimuli were scanned on the basis of the target-defining property at an abstract semantic level of representation.