Evidence for suppressive mechanisms in attentional selection: feature singletons produce inhibitory surrounds

Four experiments explored inhibitory mechanisms related to attentional selection. Observers viewed multielement displays and performed a form discrimination task involving a probe element. Also present in the stimulus display was a singleton element (possessing a unique color or orientation). In Experiments 1-3, probe discrimination performance was measured as a function of the distance between the probe and the singleton. Experiment 1 revealed that probe discriminations suffered when the probe was adjacent to the singleton, but improved as the spatial separation between the probe and attentionally salient singleton increased. Experiment 2 added a control condition, revealing that probe discriminations were inhibited near the singleton, but returned to control level performance with increased separation. Further, the amount of inhibition increased with larger stimulus onset asynchronies between the singleton and probe. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the extent of the inhibitory region is spatially mediated. In Experiment 4, the task was modified to one of probe detection. No inhibition was observed in the detection task, indicating that the decrease in probe discrimination performance observed in Experiments 1-3 was not due to observers' inability to detect the probe element.     

Attentional selection of objects or features: evidence from a modified search task

Three experiments examined the domain of visual selective attention (i.e., feature-based selection vs. object-based selection). Experiment 1 extended the requirements of the visual search task by requiring a feature discrimination response to target elements presented for short durations (30-105 msec). Targets were embedded in 47 distractor elements and were defined by either a distinct color or a distinct orientation. Observers made a discrimination response to either the target's color or its orientation. When the target-defining feature and the feature to be discriminated were the same (matched conditions), accuracy was enhanced relative to when these features belonged to separate dimensions (mismatched conditions). In Experiment 2, similar results were found in a task in which the target-defining dimension varied from trial to trial and observers performed both color and orientation discriminations on every trial. The results from these two experiments are consistent with feature-based attentional selection, but not with object-based selection. Experiment 3 extended these findings by showing that the effect is rooted in the overlap between target and distractor values in the stimulus set. The results are discussed in the context of recent models of visual selective attention.     

ANALYSIS OF WORK GROUP PRODUCTIVITY IN AN APPLIED SETTING: APPLICATION OF A TIME SERIES PANEL DESIGN

We provide a demonstration of a time series panel analysis applied under typical field research conditions characterized by (a) a small number of groups (b) all of which experience an intervention (thus there is no traditional control group), and (c) perform noncomparable tasks. The time series techniques allow a direct test of Naylor, Pritchard, and Ilgen's (1980) theory of behavior in organizations applied to work group productivity in a large-scale study of work groups conducted by Pritchard and colleagues (1989). The responses of 5 work groups to priority scores for 37 indicators of productivity over 23 months were used to predict month-by-month changes in productivity for each of the 37 group products. The results show that group productivity improvements can be explained by feedback including priority scores derived from nonlinear contingency functions of the productivity indicators. Furthermore, groups differed in their response to priority feedback. Goal setting positively affected productivity gain consistently across work groups, after the effects of priority feedback and the interaction of work groups with priority feedback were accounted for. Implications for group performance strategies and appropriate applications of the time series panel analysis are discussed.     

PERSONALITY AND COGNITIVE ABILITY AS PREDICTORS OF JOB SEARCH AMONG EMPLOYED MANAGERS

Research on employee job search and separation traditionally focuses on situationally specific variables. Such variables may change with particular employment situations (e.g., job tenure, salary, perceived organizational success), they may be differentially relevant to work situations over time (e.g., education), or may reflect individual reactions to particular work situations (e.g., job satisfaction). More enduring individual characteristics, particularly personality and cognitive ability, may affect job search in consistent ways across different situations, but to date we have little empirical research on those effects. The present study extends traditional job search investigations by incorporating these two enduring individual characteristics–personality and cognitive ability. The value of these two enduring individual characteristics, in predicting job search, is then tested on a sample of U.S. executives. Cognitive ability as well as the personality dimensions of Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience related positively to job search. These effects remained even in the presence of an array of situational factors previously shown to affect search. The relationship between Extroversion and job search became significant and positive in the presence of situational factors, particularly job satisfaction. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Violent video game play impacts facial emotion recognition

This study assessed the speed of recognition of facial emotional expressions (happy and angry) as a function of violent video game play. Color photos of calm facial expressions morphed to either an angry or a happy facial expression. Participants were asked to make a speeded identification of the emotion (happiness or anger) during the morph. Typically, happy faces are identified faster than angry faces (the happy-face advantage). Results indicated that playing a violent video game led to a reduction in the happy face advantage. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the current models of aggressive behavior.     

Attentional templates regulate competitive interactions among attended visual objects

In two experiments, we examined the mechanisms responsible for creating a zone of interference surrounding an attended visual object (see, e.g., Mounts & Gavett, 2004). In Experiment 1, the similarity between attended stimuli and noise items was manipulated in order to contrast an account based on competitive interactions between attended items with an account based on inefficient filtering of unattended stimuli. Consistent with the competitive interaction account, the data revealed that similarity between attended items increased the strength of localized interference, whereas similarity of noise items to the attended stimuli did not. Experiment 2 showed that the interference observed between attended items was determined by their match to attentional templates.