Distractor probabilities modulate flanker task performance.
Distractor probabilities modulate flanker task performance.
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分心物概率调节侧翼任务绩效。
DOI：
10.3758/s13414-020-02151-7
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发表时间：
2021-03
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Noyce AL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bulger E;Shinn-Cunningham BG;Noyce AL
对即将到来的事件的预期有助于人类有效地过滤潜在的干扰因素，并更有效地对与任务相关的输入做出反应。虽然之前的研究强调了期望对任务相关输入的作用，但对期望在抑制特定分心因素方面所起的作用知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，我们操纵了Eriksen侧翼任务中不同侧翼配置的概率。在四项研究中，我们发现了对侧翼概率敏感的有力证据，在特定侧翼配置的可能性和受试者反应的准确性之间存在近似的对数关系。受试者对重复靶子的跑动长度也很敏感，但对重复侧翼的跑动长度的敏感度最低。两项研究使用人字形刺激物；两项使用字母(证实结果在刺激物之间差异较大)。扩大刺激集合(从而减少任何一个样本的优势)消除了这种影响。我们的发现表明，在多个时间尺度上，对分心物的预期是根据统计规律形成的，当刺激在几何上相似且受试者能够对试验做出快速反应时，它们的影响最强。意想不到的干扰可能会扰乱表现，很可能是通过一种注意力捕获的形式。这项工作展示了期望如何在复杂的认知环境中影响注意力，并阐明了影响注意力的多个嵌套因素。
Expectations about upcoming events help humans to effectively filter out potential distractors and respond more efficiently to task-relevant inputs. While previous work has emphasized the role of expectations about task-relevant inputs, less is known about the role that expectations play in suppressing specific distractors. To address this question, we manipulated the probabilities of different flanker configurations in the Eriksen flanker task. Across four studies, we found robust evidence for sensitivity to the probability of flankers, with an approximately logarithmic relationship between the likelihood of a particular flanker configuration and the accuracy of subjects’ responses. Subjects were also sensitive to length of runs of repeated targets, but minimally sensitive to length of runs of repeated flankers. Two studies used chevron stimuli; two used letters (confirming that results generalize with greater dissimilarity between stimuli). Expanding the set of stimuli (thus reducing the dominance of any one exemplar) eliminated the effect. Our findings suggest that expectations about distractors form in response to statistical regularities at multiple timescales, and that their effects are strongest when stimuli are geometrically similar and subjects are able to respond to trials quickly. Unexpected distractors could disrupt performance, most likely via a form of attentional capture. This work demonstrates how expectations can influence attention in complex cognitive settings, and illuminates the multiple, nested factors that contribute.