Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for Early Child Development and Care, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Psychol Res. 2024 Jun;88(4):1389-1398. doi: 10.1007/s00426-024-01933-0. Epub 2024 Mar 13.
Attention can be captured by the presence of distractors that match the current content of working memory in the visual field. This memory-driven capture is well established when observers adopt diffused attentional settings prior to the onset of memory-matching distractors. However, it remains unclear whether memory-driven capture can occur when observers are in a state of focused attention. The present study attempted to address this question by examining whether memory-matching distractors can disrupt performance on a focused attention task. Participants were asked to hold a sample word in working memory and then had to name a central color while ignoring an irrelevant distractor word in the visual display. In Experiments 1 and 2, the distractor word was always presented centrally within the focus of attention. In Experiment 3, the distractor word could be presented either at the center or at the periphery (i.e., outside the focus of attention). The results showed that the irrelevant distractor word within the focus of attention interfered with color-naming performance when it matched the sample word held in working memory. However, no interference effect was observed when the distractor word was presented outside the attentional focus. The present findings indicate that working memory-driven capture during a state of focused visual attention depends crucially on whether or not memory-matching distractors are positioned within the focus of attention.
注意可以被与工作记忆中当前内容相匹配的干扰物捕获，这种受记忆驱动的捕获在观察者在记忆匹配干扰物出现之前采用分散注意力设置时已经得到很好的证实。然而，当观察者处于专注状态时，记忆驱动的捕获是否会发生仍然不清楚。本研究试图通过检查记忆匹配的干扰物是否会干扰专注注意力任务的表现来解决这个问题。参与者被要求在工作记忆中保持一个样本词，然后必须在视觉显示中忽略一个不相关的干扰词的情况下说出中央颜色。在实验 1 和 2 中，干扰词始终在注意力焦点的中央呈现。在实验 3 中，干扰词可以在中央或外围（即注意力焦点之外）呈现。结果表明，当与工作记忆中保持的样本词匹配的干扰词在注意力焦点内时，它会干扰颜色命名的表现。然而，当干扰词在注意力焦点之外呈现时，没有观察到干扰效应。本研究结果表明，在专注的视觉注意力状态下，工作记忆驱动的捕获取决于记忆匹配的干扰物是否位于注意力焦点内。
