Department of Psychology, School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University, 150 E. 10th St., Claremont, CA 91711, USA.
Exp Brain Res. 2013 Jun;227(4):423-32. doi: 10.1007/s00221-013-3439-y. Epub 2013 May 28.
This study investigated the distribution of visual attention along a handheld tool depending on functional tool practice and its position in peripersonal or extrapersonal space. We created a tool with two functional parts placed at the tool's middle and end. Participants held the tool over a display such that functional parts were aligned with stimuli for a 50/50, go/no-go, target detection task. In Experiment 1, two groups with no prior tool experience performed the task either in peripersonal (near the body; tool held horizontally) or extrapersonal space (beyond arms' reach; tool held straight). Faster response times (RTs) were found for targets at the tool's end and for the peripersonal space group. In Experiment 2, participants used the tool's middle part in a hockey-like game prior to the task to assess functional practice effects. Again, faster RTs were found for targets at the tool's end and in peripersonal space. However, a tool part × space interaction suggested that mid-tool practice reduced performance differences between tool parts but only in peripersonal space. Experiment 3 confirmed the interaction effect when mid-tool practice was constrained to only extrapersonal space. Results suggest that visual attention is naturally drawn to the tool's end but that functional tool use can redistribute attention when positioned in peripersonal space. In extrapersonal space, no change was found suggesting that the extension of peripersonal space is not uniform in regards to visual attention and that the visual attention component is perhaps dissociable from the remapping of spatial representation by tools.
本研究调查了根据功能工具实践和其在近体空间或体外空间中的位置，手持工具沿线的视觉注意力分布。我们创建了一个具有两个功能部分的工具，这些部分位于工具的中间和末端。参与者将工具举过显示器，使功能部分与用于 50/50、go/no-go、目标检测任务的刺激对齐。在实验 1 中，两组没有事先使用工具经验的参与者分别在近体空间（靠近身体；工具水平放置）或体外空间（手臂伸展范围之外；工具笔直放置）执行任务。对于工具末端的目标和近体空间组，发现了更快的反应时间 (RT)。在实验 2 中，参与者在任务之前使用工具的中间部分进行类似于曲棍球的游戏，以评估功能实践效果。再次，对于工具末端和近体空间中的目标，发现了更快的 RT。然而，工具部分×空间交互表明，中间工具练习减少了工具部分之间的性能差异，但仅在近体空间中。当中间工具练习仅限于体外空间时，实验 3 证实了这种交互效应。结果表明，视觉注意力自然会被工具的末端吸引，但当工具位于近体空间时，功能工具的使用可以重新分配注意力。在体外空间中，没有发现变化，这表明近体空间的扩展在视觉注意力方面并不均匀，并且视觉注意力成分可能与工具对空间表示的重新映射是可分离的。
