Distractor Interference in Selective Reaching: Dissociating Distance and Grouping Effects |
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| Authors: | Ron F Keulen Jos J Adam Martin H Fischer Harm Kuipers Jelle Jolles |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Movement Sciences , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands;2. Department of Psychology , University of Dundee , Scotland;3. Department of Neuropsychology and Psychiatry , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | In the present experiment, the authors sought to differentiate between a distance and a grouping explanation for the symmetric versus asymmetric patterns of distractor interference in selective reaching. Participants (N = 16) pointed to a green target that appeared either with or without a red distractor. Target-distractor separation was manipulated within an array of 5 closely grouped stimulus boxes, and distractor interference (difference in performance between trials with and trials without a distractor) was measured in reaction time, movement time, percentage errors, and movement endpoints. Small distances (5 mm) between target and distractor yielded a symmetric pattern of interference, whereas large distances (20 mm) yielded an asymmetric pattern, with more interference from near than from far distractors. Those findings support the distance account of distractor interference and refute the grouping account. |
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| Keywords: | distractor interference motor control reference frames selective attention |
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