Rizzolatti G, Peru A
Institute of Human Physiology, University of Parma, Italy.
Adv Space Biol Med. 1993;3:151-62.
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of isolation and confinement on selective attention. The experiments were carried out on six specially selected male subjects. The subjects were isolated in a hyperbaric chamber complex at a low overpressure for a period of 28 days. Distribution of attention between two tasks, visual search and orientation of attention to symbolic and automatic cues were studied. The results showed that 4 weeks of isolation and confinement do not significantly modify visual search and the capacity to execute two tasks simultaneously. In the double task experiment there was a clear improvement of performance during isolation and the post-isolation period. However, the development of a remarkably large difference between subjects was found. Orientation of attention to automatic cues gave results comparable to those obtained under normal conditions. Valid trials (stimulus flash and cue in same box) were faster than both neutral (cue in all boxes) and invalid trials (stimulus flash and cue in different boxes). Orientation of attention to symbolic cues also produced this effect. However, the "meridian effect" (increased reaction time when the stimulus is in the opposite half of the visual field as cue), which is constantly observed under normal conditions, was absent during isolation. The absence of the meridian effect is interpreted as a change in the subject's strategy to allocate attention. It is proposed that the absence of the meridian effect indicates an initial deficit of attentional capacities during isolation and confinement.
本研究的目的是检验隔离和禁闭对选择性注意的影响。实验在六名特别挑选的男性受试者身上进行。受试者在一个处于低超压状态的高压舱组合设施中被隔离28天。研究了两项任务之间的注意力分配情况，即视觉搜索以及对符号和自动提示的注意力定向。结果显示，4周的隔离和禁闭并未显著改变视觉搜索以及同时执行两项任务的能力。在双重任务实验中，隔离期间和隔离后阶段的表现有明显改善。然而，发现受试者之间出现了非常大的差异。对自动提示的注意力定向所得到的结果与在正常条件下获得的结果相当。有效试验（刺激闪光和提示在同一个盒子里）比中性试验（提示在所有盒子里）和无效试验（刺激闪光和提示在不同盒子里）都要快。对符号提示的注意力定向也产生了这种效果。然而，在正常条件下经常观察到的“子午线效应”（当刺激与提示处于视野的相反半侧时反应时间增加）在隔离期间不存在。子午线效应的缺失被解释为受试者分配注意力策略的改变。有人提出，子午线效应的缺失表明在隔离和禁闭期间注意力能力存在初始缺陷。
