Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2013 Feb;39(1):245-56. doi: 10.1037/a0027922. Epub 2012 Apr 16.
Research suggests that although target amplification acts as the main determinant of the efficacy of selective attention, distractor inhibition contributes under some circumstances. Here we aimed to gain insight into the operating principles that regulate the use of distractor inhibition during selective attention. The results suggest that, in contrast to target amplification, distractor inhibition does not onset earlier or strengthen in response to advance location information. Instead, when the location of the impending distractor was predictable, evidence of inhibitory processing weakened. Furthermore, the results suggest that distractor inhibition does not operate as a compensatory mechanism for target amplification, as evidenced by the lack of an increase in inhibitory effects when reliance on target amplification was disrupted. Unexpected emergence of inhibitory effects for improbable targets provided evidence that distractor inhibition was at work even when no inhibitory effects manifested. Overall, the pattern of inhibitory effects is interpreted as indicating that, although distractor inhibition mounts primarily reactively rather than preemptively, advance information can help prevent overreaction to the distractor. Of course, less overreaction reduces the chances of behavioral inhibitory effects manifesting even when distractor inhibition has contributed to selective attention; thus, interpreting an absence of inhibitory effects should be done cautiously.
研究表明，尽管目标放大是选择性注意功效的主要决定因素，但在某些情况下，分心物抑制也有作用。在这里，我们旨在深入了解调节选择性注意过程中分心物抑制作用的运作原理。结果表明，与目标放大不同，分心物抑制不会更早地开始或响应提前的位置信息而增强。相反，当即将出现的分心物的位置可以预测时，抑制处理的证据就会减弱。此外，结果表明，分心物抑制不是目标放大的补偿机制，因为当依赖目标放大受到干扰时，抑制效应并没有增加。对于不太可能的目标出现意外的抑制效应，这表明即使没有表现出抑制效应，分心物抑制也在起作用。总的来说，抑制效应的模式表明，尽管分心物抑制主要是反应性的而不是预先的，但提前的信息可以帮助防止对分心物的过度反应。当然，较少的过度反应降低了即使分心物抑制有助于选择性注意，行为抑制效应也表现出来的可能性；因此，对抑制效应缺失的解释应该谨慎进行。
