Thomas Paul M J, Jackson Margaret C, Raymond Jane E
School of Psychology, Bangor University.
School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen.
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2014 Feb;40(1):253-63. doi: 10.1037/a0033970. Epub 2013 Aug 19.
Faces with threatening versus positive expressions are better remembered in visual working memory (WM) and are especially effective at capturing attention. We asked how the presence of a single threatening or happy face affects WM for concurrently viewed faces with neutral expressions. If threat captures attention and attention determines WM, then a WM performance cost for neutral faces should be evident. However, if threat boosts processing in an object-specific, noncompetitive manner, then no such costs should be produced. Participants viewed three neutral and one angry or happy face for 2 s. Face recognition was tested 1 s later. Although WM was better for singletons than nonsingletons and better for angry versus happy singletons, WM for neutral faces remained unaffected by either singleton. These results, combined with eye movement and response time analyses, argue against a selective attention account of threat-based benefits to WM and support object-specific enhancement via threat processing.
与积极表情相比，带有威胁表情的面孔在视觉工作记忆（WM）中更容易被记住，并且在吸引注意力方面特别有效。我们研究了单个威胁或开心面孔的出现如何影响对同时呈现的中性表情面孔的工作记忆。如果威胁吸引注意力且注意力决定工作记忆，那么中性面孔的工作记忆表现成本应该很明显。然而，如果威胁以特定于对象的、非竞争性的方式促进加工，那么就不会产生这样的成本。参与者观看三张中性面孔和一张愤怒或开心的面孔，持续2秒。1秒后测试面孔识别。虽然工作记忆对单张面孔的效果比对多张面孔更好，对愤怒的单张面孔比对开心的单张面孔更好，但中性面孔的工作记忆不受任何一张单张面孔的影响。这些结果，结合眼动和反应时间分析，反对基于威胁对工作记忆有益的选择性注意解释，并支持通过威胁加工实现特定于对象的增强。
