Chan Michelle, Madan Christopher R, Singhal Anthony
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada; Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2016 Jul;168:20-6. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2016.03.010. Epub 2016 Apr 29.
Roadside billboards containing negative and positive emotional content have been shown to influence driving performance, however, the impact of highly arousing taboo information is unknown. Taboo information more reliably evokes emotional arousal and can lead to greater attentional capture due to its inherent 'shock value.' The objective of the present study was to examine driver distraction associated with four types of information presented on roadside billboards: highly arousing taboo words, moderately arousing positive and negative words, and non-arousing neutral words. Participants viewed blocks of taboo, positive, negative and neutral words presented on roadside billboards while operating a driving simulator. They also responded to target (household-related) words by pressing a button on the steering wheel. At the end of the session, a surprise recall task was completed for all the words they saw while driving. Results showed that taboo words captured the most attention as revealed by better memory recall compared to all the other word types. Interestingly, taboo words were associated with better lane control compared to the other word types. We suggest that taboo-related arousal can enhance attentional focus during a complex task like simulated driving. That is, in a highly arousing situation, attention is selectively narrowed to the road ahead, resulting in better lane control.
含有负面和正面情绪内容的路边广告牌已被证明会影响驾驶表现，然而，高度唤起情绪的禁忌信息的影响尚不清楚。禁忌信息更可靠地唤起情绪唤起，并且由于其固有的“震撼价值”，可能导致更大的注意力吸引。本研究的目的是检查与路边广告牌上呈现的四种类型信息相关的驾驶员分心情况：高度唤起情绪的禁忌词、中度唤起情绪的正面和负面词，以及无唤起情绪的中性词。参与者在操作驾驶模拟器时观看路边广告牌上呈现的禁忌词、正面词、负面词和中性词块。他们还通过按下方向盘上的按钮对目标（与家庭相关）词做出反应。在实验结束时，对他们在驾驶时看到的所有单词完成了一项突击回忆任务。结果表明，与所有其他词类型相比，禁忌词通过更好的记忆回忆显示出吸引了最多的注意力。有趣的是，与其他词类型相比，禁忌词与更好的车道控制相关。我们认为，与禁忌相关的唤起可以在模拟驾驶这样的复杂任务中增强注意力焦点。也就是说，在高度唤起情绪的情况下，注意力会选择性地缩小到前方道路，从而实现更好的车道控制。
