Stilwell Brad T, Vecera Shaun P
Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Binghamton, PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY, 13902-6000, USA.
Atten Percept Psychophys. 2023 Apr;85(3):785-795. doi: 10.3758/s13414-022-02559-3. Epub 2022 Aug 31.
Attention is guided by several factors, including task-relevant target features, which attract attention, but also statistical regularities associated distractors, which repel attention away from themselves. However, whether feature-based distractor regularities (e.g., color) are extracted automatically from a feature dimension orthogonal to the target-guiding dimension (e.g., shape) remains to be tested. In two experiments, we tested if learned distractor rejection by color operated when color was not part of the attentional control settings, specifically, while attention was guided by a shape-based target template. Participants performed a visual search task for a task-relevant shape in displays containing two unsegregated colors. These displays allowed us to manipulate target guidance (based on shape) independently from distractor-based regularities (based on color). In both experiments we found clear evidence for learned distractor rejection: faster mean response times to locate the target when a consistent distractor color was present than when it was absent. Critically, these task-irrelevant learned distractor rejection effects were robust despite strong target guidance by an orthogonal search dimension. These findings corroborate recent demonstrations of learned distractor rejection during strong target guidance, indicating that learned distractor rejection and target guidance can operate on separate feature dimensions.
注意力受多种因素引导，包括与任务相关的目标特征，这些特征会吸引注意力，同时还包括与干扰项相关的统计规律，这些规律会将注意力从自身上排斥开。然而，基于特征的干扰项规律（例如颜色）是否会从与目标引导维度正交的特征维度（例如形状）中自动提取，仍有待测试。在两项实验中，我们测试了在颜色不属于注意力控制设置的一部分时，即注意力由基于形状的目标模板引导时，通过颜色进行的学习性干扰项抑制是否起作用。参与者在包含两种未分离颜色的显示中，对与任务相关的形状执行视觉搜索任务。这些显示使我们能够独立于基于干扰项的规律（基于颜色）来操纵目标引导（基于形状）。在两项实验中，我们都发现了学习性干扰项抑制的明确证据：当存在一致的干扰项颜色时，定位目标的平均反应时间比不存在时更快。至关重要的是，尽管由正交搜索维度进行了强大的目标引导，但这些与任务无关的学习性干扰项抑制效应仍然很稳健。这些发现证实了近期关于在强大目标引导期间学习性干扰项抑制的证明，表明学习性干扰项抑制和目标引导可以在不同的特征维度上运作。
