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Smith ES, Crawford TJ. The inhibitory effect of a recent distractor: singleton vs. multiple distractors. Exp Brain Res 2024; 242:1745-1759. [PMID: 38819649 PMCID: PMC11208228 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-024-06846-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
In the complex interplay between sensory and cognitive processes, the brain must sift through a flood of sensory data to pinpoint relevant signals. This selective mechanism is crucial for the effective control of behaviour, by allowing organisms to focus on important tasks and blocking out distractions. The Inhibition of a Recent Distractor (IRD) Task examines this selection process by exploring how inhibiting distractors influences subsequent eye movements towards an object in the visual environment. In a series of experiments, research by Crawford et al. (2005a) demonstrated a delayed response to a target appearing at the location that was previously occupied by a distractor, demonstrating a legacy inhibition exerted by the distractor on the spatial location of the upcoming target. This study aimed to replicate this effect and to investigate any potential constraints when multiple distractors are presented. Exploring whether the effect is observed in more ecologically relevant scenarios with multiple distractors is crucial for assessing the extent to which it can be applied to a broader range of environments. Experiment 1 successfully replicated the effect, showing a significant IRD effect only with a single distractor. Experiments 2-5 explored a number of possible explanations for this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor S Smith
- Centre for Ageing Research, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YF, England
| | - Trevor J Crawford
- Centre for Ageing Research, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YF, England.
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2
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Chao HF, Chen MS, Kuo CY. Attention modulates the contextual similarity effect in negative priming: evidence from task demand and attentional capture. Memory 2022; 30:895-914. [PMID: 35380082 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2022.2058017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Negative priming refers to the delayed response to a probe target that was previously a prime distractor. Memory retrieval has been proposed as one critical mechanism for the manifestation of negative priming. This perspective perpetuates that the contextual similarity between prime and probe trials should modulate memory retrieval, and therefore, affect negative priming. However, evidence for the contextual similarity effect in negative priming is mixed. The present study tested the hypothesis that attended contextual cues are more likely to be encoded into a distractor representation, and thus, are more likely to modulate the negative priming effect. By manipulating whether the contextual cues were relevant to the task demand in Section 1, and by manipulating whether cues had an abrupt or simultaneous onset, and by analysing reaction time (RT) distributions of the data in Section 2, our results demonstrated that attended cues produced the contextual similarity effect in negative priming, especially when RTs were long.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Fu Chao
- Department of Psychology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
| | - Makayla S Chen
- School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Chun-Yu Kuo
- Department of Adult & Continuing Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan
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Megías M, Ortells JJ, Carmona I, Noguera C, Kiefer M. Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Modulate Electrophysiological Correlates of Semantic Negative Priming From Single Words. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:765290. [PMID: 34867229 PMCID: PMC8637919 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.765290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were registered during a semantic negative priming (NP) task in participants with higher and lower working memory capacity (WMC). On each trial participants had to actively ignore a briefly presented single prime word, which was followed either immediately or after a delay by a mask. Thereafter, either a semantically related or an unrelated target word was presented, to which participants made a semantic categorization judgment. The ignored prime produced a behavioral semantic NP in delayed (but not in immediate) masking trials, and only for participants with a higher-WMC. Both masking type and WMC also modulated ERP priming effects. When the ignored prime was immediately followed by a mask (which impeded its conscious identification) a reliable N400 modulation was found irrespective of participants' WMC. However, when the mask onset following the prime was delayed (thus allowing its conscious identification), an attenuation of a late positive ERP (LPC) was observed in related compared to unrelated trials, but only in the higher-WMC group showing reliable behavioral NP. The present findings demonstrate for the first time that individual differences in WMC modulate both behavioral measures and electrophysiological correlates of semantic NP.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan J Ortells
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.,CEINSA, Health Research Center, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
| | - Isabel Carmona
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.,CEINSA, Health Research Center, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
| | - Carmen Noguera
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.,CEINSA, Health Research Center, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
| | - Markus Kiefer
- Department of Psychiatry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
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Megías M, Ortells JJ, Noguera C, Carmona I, Marí-Beffa P. Semantic Negative Priming From an Ignored Single-Prime Depends Critically on Prime-Mask Inter-Stimulus Interval and Working Memory Capacity. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1227. [PMID: 32581977 PMCID: PMC7296074 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the link between working memory capacity and the ability to exert cognitive control. Here, participants with either high or low working memory capacity (WMC) performed a semantic negative priming (NP) task as a measure of cognitive control. They were required to ignore a single prime word followed by a pattern mask appearing immediately or after a delay. The prime could be semantically related or unrelated to an upcoming target word where a forced-choice categorization was required. Each type of mask (immediate vs. delayed) appeared randomly from trial to trial. Results demonstrated that, when the ignored prime was immediately followed by the mask, neither of the groups (high or low WMC) showed reliable NP. In clear contrast, when the mask onset was delayed responses latencies were reliably slower for semantically related trials than for unrelated trials (semantic NP), but only for the high WMC group. The present results clearly demonstrate that semantic NP from single ignored primes depends on both the masking pattern that follows the prime (immediate vs. delayed mask), and on working memory capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan J Ortells
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.,CEINSA, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
| | - Carmen Noguera
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.,CEINSA, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
| | - Isabel Carmona
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.,CEINSA, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, Almería, Spain
| | - Paloma Marí-Beffa
- School of Psychology, University of Wales Bangor, Bangor, United Kingdom
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Ortells JJ, Noguera C, Álvarez D, Carmona E, Houghton G. Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Modulates Semantic Negative Priming from Single Prime Words. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1286. [PMID: 27621716 PMCID: PMC5002416 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 08/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated whether semantic negative priming from single prime words depends on the availability of cognitive control resources. Participants with high vs. low working memory capacity (as assessed by their performance in complex span and attentional control tasks) were instructed to either attend to or ignore a briefly presented single prime word that was followed by either a semantically related or unrelated target word on which participants made a lexical decision. Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) mainly affected the processing of the ignored primes, but not the processing of the attended primes: While the latter produced reliable positive semantic priming for both high- and low-WMC participants, the former gave rise to reliable semantic negative priming only for high WMC participants, with low WMC participants showing the opposite positive priming effect. The present results extend previous findings in demonstrating that (a) single negative priming can reliably generalize to semantic associates of the prime words, and (b) a differential availability of cognitive control resources can reliably modulate the negative priming effect at a semantic level of representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan J Ortells
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería Almería, Spain
| | - Carmen Noguera
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería Almería, Spain
| | - Dolores Álvarez
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería Almería, Spain
| | - Encarna Carmona
- Department of Psychology, University of Almería Almería, Spain
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Kahan TA, Oldak VA, Lichtman AS. Working memory loads affect location-based negative priming differently than inhibition of return. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2013.789855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Ellenbogen MA, Linnen AM, Cardoso C, Joober R. Intranasal oxytocin impedes the ability to ignore task-irrelevant facial expressions of sadness in students with depressive symptoms. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013; 38:387-98. [PMID: 22902063 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2011] [Revised: 06/28/2012] [Accepted: 06/30/2012] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The administration of oxytocin promotes prosocial behavior in humans. The mechanism by which this occurs is unknown, but it likely involves changes in social information processing. In a randomized placebo-controlled study, we examined the influence of intranasal oxytocin and placebo on the interference control component of inhibition (i.e. ability to ignore task-irrelevant information) in 102 participants using a negative affective priming task with sad, angry, and happy faces. In this task, participants are instructed to respond to a facial expression of emotion while simultaneously ignoring another emotional face. On the subsequent trial, the previously-ignored emotional valence may become the emotional valence of the target face. Inhibition is operationalized as the differential delay between responding to a previously-ignored emotional valence and responding to an emotional valence unrelated to the previous one. Although no main effect of drug administration on inhibition was observed, a drug × depressive symptom interaction (β = -0.25; t = -2.6, p < 0.05) predicted the inhibition of sad faces. Relative to placebo, participants with high depression scores who were administered oxytocin were unable to inhibit the processing of sad faces. There was no relationship between drug administration and inhibition among those with low depression scores. These findings are consistent with increasing evidence that oxytocin alters social information processing in ways that have both positive and negative social outcomes. Because elevated depression scores are associated with an increased risk for major depressive disorder, difficulties inhibiting mood-congruent stimuli following oxytocin administration may be associated with risk for depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark A Ellenbogen
- Centre for Research in Human Development, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Canada.
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Recently inhibited responses are avoided for both masked and nonmasked primes in a spatial negative priming task. Atten Percept Psychophys 2011; 73:1435-52. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-011-0125-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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