Naylor H, Halliday R, Callaway E
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1985;86(1-2):90-5. doi: 10.1007/BF00431690.
Models of information processing currently popular in cognitive psychology divide the reaction process into a series of discrete separable stages. The distinction between one stage and another is verified by the additive factors method (AFM) as defined by Sternberg (1969). Task factors that do not interact with each other are inferred to affect different stages. The distinction between stimulus evaluation stages and response selection stages has been supported by brain event related potential (ERP) studies. The latency of the P300 component of the ERP is sensitive to changes in stimulus complexity but not to to changes in response complexity. The focus of this research is to determine the effects of stimulant drugs on stages of information processing using both reaction time (RT) and P300 latency within an AFM framework. Four doses of methylphenidate (MP) were used in a within-subjects design to examine the effects of MP on stimulus and response processing. We found that MP speeds RT, and that this effect does not interact with the effect of stimulus complexity on RT. MP dose interacts with response complexity, the dose for optimal speeding varying with the level of complexity. The latency of P300 is increased by stimulus complexity, and not by response complexity, nor is it affected by MP. These results show that the stimulant drug acts on processes involved in response selection, rather than in stimulus evaluation. Individual differences in drug response are dose dependent, but also point to an effect on response processing.
认知心理学中当前流行的信息处理模型将反应过程划分为一系列离散的、可分离的阶段。一个阶段与另一个阶段之间的区别通过斯滕伯格（1969年）定义的相加因素法（AFM）来验证。彼此不相互作用的任务因素被推断为影响不同的阶段。刺激评估阶段和反应选择阶段之间的区别得到了脑事件相关电位（ERP）研究的支持。ERP的P300成分的潜伏期对刺激复杂性的变化敏感，但对反应复杂性的变化不敏感。本研究的重点是在AFM框架内，使用反应时间（RT）和P300潜伏期来确定兴奋剂药物对信息处理阶段的影响。在一项被试内设计中使用了四种剂量的哌甲酯（MP）来检验MP对刺激和反应处理的影响。我们发现MP加快了RT，并且这种效应与刺激复杂性对RT的效应不相互作用。MP剂量与反应复杂性相互作用，最佳加速的剂量随复杂程度而变化。P300的潜伏期因刺激复杂性而增加，而非因反应复杂性，也不受MP影响。这些结果表明，兴奋剂药物作用于反应选择过程，而非刺激评估过程。药物反应的个体差异取决于剂量，但也表明对反应处理有影响。
