Nougier V, Rossi B, Alain C, Taddei F
UFRAPS, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France.
Ergonomics. 1996 Sep;39(9):1119-33. doi: 10.1080/00140139608964533.
Two models of visual orienting of attention are frequently described. Voluntary orienting is usually induced by central cues that direct subjects' attention to a given location in the visual space. Automatic orienting is provoked by presentation of peripheral cues. It is shown that automatic orienting induces greater attentional costs and benefits, and is less under a subject's control (Jonides 1981). Furthermore, it is not similarly affected by factors such as signal eccentricity (Umiltà et al. 1991). The present experiment was undertaken to investigate how sensitive automatic orienting produced by peripheral cues is to voluntary modulations of attention. In experiment 1, subjects facing situations daily in which attentional requirements are high, were compared to non-practiced ones. In experiment 2, other groups of practiced subjects facing high or low attentional-demanding situations were tested. In both experiments, subjects were asked to respond to signals, presented in rapid succession, in one of two possible locations in space, on each side of central fixation point. The cue signal automatically oriented attention to one of the two locations in which a first stimulus was presented with 100% probability; 100 ms after the first response (RT1), a second response signal (RT2) was delivered either in the same location (valid condition) or in the opposite location (invalid condition). Four cue probabilities were manipulated for this second stimulus: 100%/0%, 80%/20%, 50%/50%, and 20%/80%. Two eccentricities of 3 degrees and 6 degrees were tested. RT2 data demonstrated that (1) there was no eccentricity effect; (2) the higher the cue probability, the greater were the attentional costs; (3) the attentional effects were smaller in the practiced subjects who faced attention-demanding situations daily, than in the other groups. Put together, these data suggest that automatic orienting of attention can be modulated by voluntary attentional processes, according to cue probability. Furthermore, experienced subjects seem to be able to better distribute their attentional resources in space, with increased task requirements. The adoption of an optimal criterion might lead to the use of a cost minimizing strategy.
人们经常描述两种视觉注意定向模型。随意定向通常由中央线索诱发，这些线索将受试者的注意力引向视觉空间中的给定位置。自动定向则由外周线索的呈现所引发。研究表明，自动定向会引发更大的注意成本和收益，且较少受受试者控制（乔尼德斯，1981年）。此外，它受信号离心率等因素的影响也不相同（乌米塔等人，1991年）。本实验旨在研究外周线索产生的自动定向对注意力的随意调节有多敏感。在实验1中，将每天面临高注意力需求情况的受试者与未经过训练的受试者进行比较。在实验2中，测试了其他几组面临高或低注意力需求情况的有经验的受试者。在两个实验中，都要求受试者对快速连续呈现的信号做出反应，信号出现在空间中两个可能位置之一，位于中央注视点的两侧。线索信号自动将注意力定向到两个位置之一，在该位置第一个刺激以100%的概率呈现；在第一次反应（RT1）后100毫秒，第二个反应信号（RT2）要么在同一位置（有效条件）呈现，要么在相反位置（无效条件）呈现。对第二个刺激操纵了四种线索概率：100%/0%、80%/20%、50%/50%和20%/80%。测试了3度和6度的两种离心率。RT2数据表明：（1）不存在离心率效应；（2）线索概率越高，注意成本越大；（3）每天面临注意力需求情况的有经验的受试者的注意效应比其他组小。综合这些数据表明，注意力的自动定向可以根据线索概率通过随意注意过程进行调节。此外，有经验的受试者似乎能够随着任务要求的增加，更好地在空间中分配他们的注意资源。采用最优标准可能会导致使用成本最小化策略。
