Zinchenko Artyom, Conci Markus, Müller Hermann J, Geyer Thomas
Department Psychologie, Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.
Munich Center for Neurosciences-Brain & Mind, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2025 Feb 26:17470218251320540. doi: 10.1177/17470218251320540.
If a searched-for target object is consistently encountered within repeating spatial distractor arrangements, target detection becomes more efficient relative to nonrepeated, that is, random arrangements (contextual cueing [CC] effect). However, target location changes within otherwise unchanged distractor arrays substantially weaken the cueing effect. Previous studies reported substantial variations in individual participants' abilities to learn and relearn invariant contexts. Therefore, the current study examined how individual differences in attentional control and focus, as indexed by the well-established Stroop and Navon tasks, respectively, relate to CC in a learning phase/relocation phase design. During the visual search, we recorded behavioural reaction times (RTs) and fixation locations, the latter permitting us to decompose search RTs into search- and motor-related substages. We could thus evaluate the processes responsible for CC and the lack thereof after target relocation while also testing whether search and motor components of CC are different for individuals depending on their Stroop/Navon scores. Repeated contexts yielded faster RTs (and reduced fixation numbers), though there was a substantial decrease in cueing from learning to adaptation, consistent with previous studies. Critically, contextual learning, but not relearning, varied across individuals: participants with high-Stroop interference displayed overall larger CC during early target search, while a more local Navon task bias was associated with increased CC during later processes of target response decisions. Our results demonstrate that analysing individual differences can help validate the processes responsible for CC in search tasks, particularly distinguishing between early search and later response-related mechanisms.
如果在重复的空间干扰物排列中持续遇到搜索目标物体，相对于非重复排列（即随机排列），目标检测会变得更高效（上下文线索化[CC]效应）。然而，在其他方面不变的干扰物阵列中目标位置发生变化会大大削弱线索化效应。先前的研究报告了个体参与者学习和重新学习不变上下文能力的显著差异。因此，本研究考察了分别由成熟的斯特鲁普任务和纳冯任务所索引的注意力控制和焦点方面的个体差异，在学习阶段/重新定位阶段设计中与CC是如何关联的。在视觉搜索过程中，我们记录了行为反应时间（RTs）和注视位置，后者使我们能够将搜索RTs分解为与搜索和运动相关的子阶段。因此，我们可以评估目标重新定位后导致CC及其缺失的过程，同时还测试了CC的搜索和运动成分对于个体而言是否因他们的斯特鲁普/纳冯分数而有所不同。重复的上下文产生了更快的RTs（以及减少了注视次数），尽管从学习到适应线索化有大幅下降，这与先前的研究一致。关键的是，上下文学习而非重新学习在个体间存在差异：斯特鲁普干扰高的参与者在早期目标搜索期间总体上表现出更大的CC，而更偏向局部的纳冯任务与目标反应决策后期过程中CC的增加相关。我们的结果表明，分析个体差异有助于验证搜索任务中导致CC的过程，特别是区分早期搜索和后期反应相关机制。
