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Ye C, Xu Q, Pan Z, Nie QY, Liu Q. The differential impact of face distractors on visual working memory across encoding and delay stages. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02895-6. [PMID: 38822200 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02895-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
External distractions often occur when information must be retained in visual working memory (VWM)-a crucial element in cognitive processing and everyday activities. However, the distraction effects can differ if they occur during the encoding rather than the delay stages. Previous research on these effects used simple stimuli (e.g., color and orientation) rather than considering distractions caused by real-world stimuli on VWM. In the present study, participants performed a facial VWM task under different distraction conditions across the encoding and delay stages to elucidate the mechanisms of distraction resistance in the context of complex real-world stimuli. VWM performance was significantly impaired by delay-stage but not encoding-stage distractors (Experiment 1). In addition, the delay distraction effect arose primarily due to the absence of distractor process at the encoding stage rather than the presence of a distractor during the delay stage (Experiment 2). Finally, the impairment in the delay-distraction condition was not due to the abrupt appearance of distractors (Experiment 3). Taken together, these findings indicate that the processing mechanisms previously established for resisting distractions in VWM using simple stimuli can be extended to more complex real-world stimuli, such as faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chaoxiong Ye
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610066, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland
- School of Education, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, 455000, China
| | - Qianru Xu
- Center for Machine Vision and Signal Analysis, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland
- School of Education, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, 455000, China
| | - Zhihu Pan
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610066, China
| | - Qi-Yang Nie
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, 999078, China.
| | - Qiang Liu
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610066, China.
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland.
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Zhang J, Guan W, Lipp OV. The effect of emotion counter-regulation to anger on working memory updating. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14366. [PMID: 37334924 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Emotion counter-regulation has been suggested as the core cognitive mechanism of automatic emotion regulation. Emotion counter-regulation not only induces an unintentional transfer of attention from the current emotional state to stimuli with the opposite valence but also prompts approach to stimuli of the opposite valence and increases response inhibition to stimuli of the same valence. Working memory (WM) updating has been shown to be related to attention selection and response inhibition. However, it remains unclear whether emotion counter-regulation would affect WM updating with emotional stimuli. In the present study, 48 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to the angry-priming group that watched highly arousing angry video clips, or the control group that watched neutral video clips. Then participants performed a two-back face identity matching task with happy and angry face pictures. Behavioral results showed higher accuracy for identity recognition of happy than of angry faces. The event-related potential (ERP) results revealed smaller P2 to angry faces than to happy faces in the control group. In the angry-priming group, there was no difference in P2 amplitude between angry and happy trials. Between groups, P2 to angry faces was larger in the priming group than in the control group. Late positive potential (LPP) was smaller for happy faces than for angry faces in the priming group, but not in the control group. These findings suggest that emotion counter-regulation affects the onset updating and maintenance of emotional face stimuli in WM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Wanyao Guan
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Ottmar V Lipp
- School of Psychology & Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Negative and Positive Bias for Emotional Faces: Evidence from the Attention and Working Memory Paradigms. Neural Plast 2021; 2021:8851066. [PMID: 34135956 PMCID: PMC8178010 DOI: 10.1155/2021/8851066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2020] [Revised: 08/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual attention and visual working memory (VWM) are two major cognitive functions in humans, and they have much in common. A growing body of research has investigated the effect of emotional information on visual attention and VWM. Interestingly, contradictory findings have supported both a negative bias and a positive bias toward emotional faces (e.g., angry faces or happy faces) in the attention and VWM fields. We found that the classical paradigms-that is, the visual search paradigm in attention and the change detection paradigm in VWM-are considerably similar. The settings of these paradigms could therefore be responsible for the contradictory results. In this paper, we compare previous controversial results from behavioral and neuroscience studies using these two paradigms. We suggest three possible contributing factors that have significant impacts on the contradictory conclusions regarding different emotional bias effects; these factors are stimulus choice, experimental setting, and cognitive process. We also propose new research directions and guidelines for future studies.
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