A Case for Inhibition: Visual Attention Suppresses the Processing of Irrelevant Objects

Autor/inn/en	Wuhr, Peter; Frings, Christian
Titel	A Case for Inhibition: Visual Attention Suppresses the Processing of Irrelevant Objects
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137 (2008) 1, S.116-130 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0096-3445
Schlagwörter	Inhibition; Attention; Cognitive Processes; Visual Discrimination + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hemmung; Aufmerksamkeit; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess
Abstract	The present study investigated the ability to inhibit the processing of an irrelevant visual object while processing a relevant one. Participants were presented with 2 overlapping shapes (e.g., circle and square) in different colors. The task was to name the color of the relevant object designated by shape. Congruent or incongruent color words appeared in the relevant object, in the irrelevant object, or in the background. Stroop effects indicated how strong the respective area of the display was processed. The results of 4 experiments showed that words in the relevant object produced larger Stroop effects than words in the background, indicating amplification of relevant objects. In addition, words in the irrelevant object consistently produced smaller Stroop effects than words in the background, indicating inhibition of irrelevant objects. Control experiments replicated these findings with brief display durations (250 ms) and ruled out perceptual factors as a possible explanation. In summary, results support the notion of an inhibitory mechanism of object-based attention, which can be applied in addition to the amplification of relevant objects. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10